Iron Lore: Malhavoc's Surprise?

[tetsujin28]

Sounds like it's not for you, then.

 

[ecliptic]

I love Epic Magic. I love Epic magic using pcs. I love Epic magic items. I run a Epic game. Why should I get this at all? P.s.I love Mike's books;this is not a attack. elforcelf.

Well it sounds like it opens up a whole new avenue for melee by simply using the new feat system. COuld be usefull if you think melee classes get the shaft in Epic.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Dear Mr. Mearls and Mr. Ratbane:

There's really no need to compete. You see, that's why God invented credit cards...

I have found it almost universally true that when a "big name" company publishes something that crosses over my work in any way, my sales go up. Grim Tales has enjoyed a renaissance in interest several times now, and I'll be surprised if a few people don't immediately start looking for ways to use them together. So I'm really not concerned about competing. (It will probably also sell a few of my Grim Tales-themed adventures.)

I am looking forward to seeing how Mike solved some of the problems that I myself encountered. I have pretty much bought everything from either mearls or Monte that wasn't tied to a specific campaign setting-- their nuts and bolts stuff is always good.

Overall Iron Lore sounds (a) more high action that the perceived "default" GT campaign, (b) it has a fixed fantasy theme/feel (you wouldn't use it to play a future apocalyptic game, for example-- you'll no doubt want to wait for Cyber Lore for that ) and (c) it's less tool-kitty in the nuts and bolts (classes are defined, with a fixed progression of abilities, more like D&D than Modern).

So, yeah, my guess is you could probably use Grim Tales with a dash of The Book of Iron Might to build an Iron Lore game, but why would you when you can have Mike F'in Mearls do it for you and publish it all pretty-like through Malhavoc?


Wulf

 

[3catcircus]

Combat Rules, Other Than Weapons?

Wondering if this product will also include combat rules for things/items? I've always felt that splash weapons got the shaft in the core books. I mean - come on - getting hit square on with an Alchemist's Fire (for all intents and purposes a molotov cocktail) - and at most you take 12 points of damage and 12 seconds later it is all over?

Will Iron Lore have revamped rules for what happens when people get hit by alchemist's fire (i.e. they catch on fire, run around in agony, and start igniting other items and people, for example?)

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Will there be anything in Iron Lore analogous to the Ritual Warrior? That's one of my favorite parts of AE, and it'd be pretty cool to see what one would look like in a rules-set like Iron Lore or GT.

 

[Gez]

I'll wait for "Evolved Lore", the full-color, 3-in-1 book that'll be published... eventually. Maybe.

 

[fuindordm]

Malhavoc is fourth in the field, but I'm really looking forward to IL! It has some things that I've been itching for for it seems like forever now...

* A wide variation of mundane classes that can be imported into a campaign. It always bugged me that there were only three out of 11 classes in D&D that had no magical abilities at all.

* Full support for different fighting and weapons styles! There are only a couple of feats useful for pole arms in D&D, for example, and none specifically supporting that style of combat.

* And, briefly mentioned by Mike "...he would have the athletics skill group..." I've been thinking for a while about how to modify the skill system a bit and the idea of skill groups sounds brilliant. Does this mean you can buy full ranks in groups of three skills for a reduced cost? E.g. 2 skill points per rank in the Athletics (climb, jump, swim) or Influence (bluff, diplomacy, intimidate) groups, or one point per rank in individual skills? Sweet!

Grim Tales I have, and I love it to death for it's unyielding flexibility and carefully balanced rules. I've been using it's CR/EL/XP system for my own campaigns extensively, and find it much easier to get a handle on than the base D&D.

GT is definitely a masterwork game system, and a bargain to boot without the usual 150 gp added on top of the price.

Ben

 

[Berandor]

Wondering if this product will also include combat rules for things/items? I've always felt that splash weapons got the shaft in the core books. I mean - come on - getting hit square on with an Alchemist's Fire (for all intents and purposes a molotov cocktail) - and at most you take 12 points of damage and 12 seconds later it is all over?

Hey! Alchemist's fire and tanglefoot bags saved the day for my players at their last BBEG. Don't knock that.

Grim Tales I have, and I love it to death for it's unyielding flexibility and carefully balanced rules. I've been using it's CR/EL/XP system for my own campaigns extensively, and find it much easier to get a handle on than the base D&D.

I needed to quote that. "Unyielding flexibility" is just too cool.

 

[Odhanan]

Hi everyone.

The Iron Lore FAQ states:

Does [Iron Lore] use the same rules as Arcana Evolved?

No. Iron Lore does not use the Arcana Evolved magic system -- it creates a new magic paradigm. It does not use Arcana Evolved character classes but introduces all-new classes. It offers its own take on new combat options, skills, and feats.

Hence my question to Mike:

How compatible will AE and IL be? Will IL include some tips about how to use both variants together? How complex will it be to blend the two?

Other informations:
Malhavoc Announces Next Variant Player's Handbook
Welcome to Iron Lore!

 

[Plane Sailing]

Mike,

Thanks for all the answers you've posted in this thread. I'm now really keen to see what you've done with IL. Playing around with house-rules a lot I've put a lot of thought into ways of eliminating magic and magic item dependency and each time came to the conclusion that it would require a wholesale ripping out and changing elements of d20, so I've not bothered.

But if you've done all the hard work for me...

Sounds cool so far.

Cheers