Mike Mearls is a Genius

[Desdichado]

You know, i might buy that. I was one of those who never bought the outer-planes-for-low-level-chars thing, and just couldn't get past that in order to give Planescape a proper chance. Return them to the high-level-only setting, and i'll check it out.

I was the opposite; the fact that Planescape could be played by low level characters was the only reason I gave it a look. I would hate a setting that had to be high level. I hate playing high level.

 

[Particle_Man]

Given that Iron Heroes does not involved "powering up" with standardized magic items, does that change the core story of Iron Heroes from that of regular D&D?

 

[Belen]

Given that Iron Heroes does not involved "powering up" with standardized magic items, does that change the core story of Iron Heroes from that of regular D&D?

Yes. No magic loot means that the game will play very different from standard D&D.

Of course, I am staying away from Iron Heroes because of the Tokens. No way do I need more idiotic action points messing with my game.

 

[glass]

Ha! That's funny -- even the ones I like turn out to be derivative.

There's nothing new under the sun!

(When I saw your post, my first thought was Shadow Worlds too, and I've never played RM).


glass.

 

[glass]

I fail to see why you need Eberron for any of the above. Pre-3e FR did not have 101 elves. I only ever remember High, Moon, Wood, and Drow. Eberron has that many elves.

Well, you missed Sylvan, and two kinds of sea elves. And IIRC, Yuirwood elves too (although they may be extinct).

Which by my estimation is at least seven. AFAIK, Eberron only has two.


glass.

 

[Henry]

Of course, I am staying away from Iron Heroes because of the Tokens. No way do I need more idiotic action points messing with my game.

And yet you like Modern? Seems like IH's Tokens and Modern's Action Points serve the same purpose.

 

[Arnwyn]

Well, you missed Sylvan, and two kinds of sea elves. And IIRC, Yuirwood elves too (although they may be extinct).

Quibble:
No, he didn't.

He said "pre-3e" FR. (Though, indeed, there were sea elves pre-3e.)

 

[Desdichado]

Well, you missed Sylvan, and two kinds of sea elves. And IIRC, Yuirwood elves too (although they may be extinct).

When did the winged elves get added to the FR mix?

 

[fanboy2000]

I think what BryonD is trying to say is that pulling stuff from Eberron forces you to accept a style of play similar to Eberron, while pulling stuff from Midnight, FR, or AU/AE allows you to accept/ maintain the traditional feel of D&D.

Good point. In fact, its one of the things I love about Eberron. Most of their new mechanics support the setting. Magewrights and Artificers support the proliferation of magic and magic items. The PrCs actually support the flavor of the setting. I particularly like the Dragonmark Heir, the 5 level PrC that's about a feat chain rather than improving upon any of the base classes. I think the Extreme Explorer is just fun.

Most of the d20 products I see don't take advantage of the mechanics to create a setting. They don't create new feat chains to represent a particular path, or PrCs to represent a particular concept. I think there should be more racial feats and more feat chains that represent a particular path within a class. FR had a great idea when they implemented Regional feats, and I think the racial feats and the druid feat chains in Eberron go a long way in giving the mechanics an Eberron feel to them. It's not that I don't see new feats and PrCs, it's that most of the feats are just generic D&D feats; the PrCs are just generic D&D PrCs. It's like they design the settings mechanics so that you can use them in generic D&D, rather than making you feel like you're playing in a specific setting.

 

[Desdichado]

I think what BryonD is trying to say is that pulling stuff from Eberron forces you to accept a style of play similiar to Eberron, while pulling stuff from Midnight, FR, or AU/AE allows you to accept/ maintain the traditional feel of D&D.

While that makes sense as a concept, I can't see how that's actually true. Adding dragonmarked feats into my Cthulhu-fantasy, for example, certainly didn't turn the play style into Eberron. I've given serious consideration into adding warforged, and if I'd had Eberron when I started, I mighta added shifters and changelings too in place of some the races I do have. My campaign plays quite differently from Eberron; quite differently than D&D even, but I would have easily integrated those elements without changing the feel to a play style similar to Eberron.

I don't see how that's any more true for Eberron than it is for the other examples you've given. In fact, if anything, I'd think heavy borrowing from Midnight or AU/AE is more likely to change the feel of play away from traditional D&D than Eberron is.