What are everyones thoughts on Iron Heroes?

[Wulf Ratbane]

The temptation to really run this system through and see how it deals with a traditional DnD adventure is truly powerful.

Personally I'm planning on benchmarking this sucker against Heart of Nightfang Spire.

 

[Slobber Monster]

gamist combat == good combat for many of us, I suppose. I like battles where there are interesting tactical choices to be made at every turn, and where doing cool stuff gets you an advantage. The token system sounds to me like it could work well towards that goal.

 

[Belen]

Playtester here.... I can't get into any detail due to NDA but our group which playtested Iron Heroes and the Iron Heroes bestiary did not find any difference in combat between IH and core rules as far as time is concerned. On the surface, it may appear that the nature of the IH rules makes for longer combats but it takes about the same amount of time...... the caveat being equal familiarity with the core and IH rules. The first several combats will take more time as players and the DM get familiar with the IH rules.

Ugh...if it requires the same level of knowledge to run IH as 3.5, then that is a nightmarish amount of additional rules. I really dislike the whole token/action point model. It just adds additional complexity and recording keeping to the game.

 

[JoeGKushner]

So are you saying those settings/rulesets are "low-powered"? I certainly wouldn't agree but whatever.

Low powered is how I would describe them due to the lack of active magic. Grim Tales can have more active magic and at much higher levels, Black Company's magic becomes a thing to be feared, but for the most part, yes, those settings are very low powered due to the lack of magic items and the inflation to power that magic items bring. Spellcasting is also not something to be triffled with and while I haven't gone a game yet without a spellcaster in any of 'em, I wouldn't be surprsied to see it happen.

 

[EricNoah]

I know players who use tokens for regular D&D -- they have different colored stones for the different levels of sorcerer spells they can cast. It helps them keep tabs on ever-changing quantities of (whatever resource you're tallying) without having to use paper, erase stuff all the time, etc. To me, the token thing is just an extension of that.

 

[Belen]

gamist combat == good combat for many of us, I suppose. I like battles where there are interesting tactical choices to be made at every turn, and where doing cool stuff gets you an advantage. The token system sounds to me like it could work well towards that goal.

That is great for some people, but 3.5 seems gamist enough for anyone. I am not interested in playing Warhammer Fantasy Skirmish.

 

[EricNoah]

You know, it occurs to me...

In D&D if you want to be a guy who is managing resources, you play a spellcaster. You need to keep tabs on how many spells or slots or psionic points you have left. (I'm one of these guys. It's fun for me to do this record-keeping; part of the challenge is using your resources without depleting them too early.)

f you DON'T want to do that kind of record-keeping, you steer away from a class like that and play a fighter or a rogue. In that case, you just need to move and attack, or use feats and skills, and your position on the battlefield is really the only thing you need to keep track of. (I tend to get a little bored in this role. If my options are basically Attack, Move, do something else to get me ready to Attack or Move shortly, or maybe use a magic item, that isn't a lot of options.)

In IH, it's looking like everyone will need to keep tabs on resources.

Maybe that's what's turning some folks off -- there isn't much of an option if you're not one of those "resource manager" type guys.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

You know, it occurs to me...[snip] In IH, it's looking like everyone will need to keep tabs on resources.

Maybe that's what's turning some folks off -- there isn't much of an option if you're not one of those "resource manager" type guys.

Eric, this is a really interesting (clever?) observation.

It makes me wonder if mearls did it on purpose, or if maybe he's just a resource guy and didn't even notice.

 

[EricNoah]

Intentional or no ... it makes me want to play a fighter type in a way I've never felt before.

 

[Slobber Monster]

At least as it's described here, tokens don't seem anything like managing resources like spells to me. I don't think you get to keep them from combat to combat, and they are earned as a result of actions taken in game against a particular opponent.