History TabletopGame / IronHeroes

Iron Heroes is a rule set using the 'open source' d20 rules from 3rd edition ''TableTopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': it alters the assumptions of its parent game to produce 'low fantasy' that sets out to capture the feel of stories like RobinHood or Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian... where heroes are [[BadassNormal capable of almost anything]] but magic is either non-existent or a dangerous and unpredictable force that can prove as dangerous to its users as to its targets. ''Iron Heroes'' provides rules for such game-play without going into world-building: there are a few pointers on producing a 'low magic' campaign world, but the material the system provides is meant to slot into any setting you make up for it. The most fundamental changes it makes to the d20 system are:

Iron Heroes is a rule set using the 'open source' d20 rules from 3rd edition ''TableTopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': it alters the assumptions of its parent game to produce 'low fantasy' that sets out to capture the feel of stories like RobinHood or ConanTheBarbarian... where heroes are [[BadassNormal capable of almost anything]] but magic is either non-existent or a dangerous and unpredictable force that can prove as dangerous to its users as to its targets. ''Iron Heroes'' provides rules for such game-play without going into world-building: there are a few pointers on producing a 'low magic' campaign world, but the material the system provides is meant to slot into any setting you make up for it. The most fundamental changes it makes to the d20 system are:

Iron Heroes is a rules set using the 'open source' d20 rules from 3rd edition ''TableTopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': it alters the assumptions of its parent game to produce 'low fantasy' that sets out to capture the feel of stories like RobinHood or ConanTheBarbarian... where heroes are [[BadassNormal capable of almost anything]] but magic is either non-existent or a dangerous and unpredictable force that can prove as dangerous to its users as to its targets. ''Iron Heroes'' provides rules for such game-play without going into world-building: there are a few pointers on producing a 'low magic' campaign world, but the material the system provides is meant to slot into any setting you make up for it. The most fundamental changes it makes to the d20 system are:

Each class is more or less a heroic archetype of the ass-kicking verity, with the only outwardly magical class being totally optional. The classes in the core book are:

* Arcanist (Optional): A wizard who prefers to avoid using actual spells [[MagicMisfire for fear of life or sanity threatening backfires.]]

* Harrier: While a common feature of d20 system games is that melee combat only really works if you are stationary, the harrier averts this as one of the few working [[LightningBruiser hit and run classes out there.]]

* Thief: Silver tongued and sticky fingered, the thief can fight in a similar but less effective way than the Executioner, but is more at home out of combat than in it.

Several of the qualities introduced in ''Iron Heroes'' went on to inspire elements of the fourth edition of ''TableTopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' - powers for martial classes, healing surges (based around the same notion as 'reserve pool' hit points) and so forth. However, the most fundamental notion of ''Iron Heroes'' - that is, a setting almost barren of magic - was decidedly not.

There ''is'' normal magic in iron heroes, the core principle is just that the players can't have any. The arcanist is the only player-accessible class with actual access to the supernatural, and their way is unreliable to outright suicidal, but the game allows and even encourages dropping antagonists with abilities from other systems in, and specifically mentions the fireball-casting wizard from the SRD. So the central theme of the setting is not so much "low magic" as "the players are always outmatched by the villains when it comes to funky powers". This is the reason every class has good saves despite the relative lack of player-accessible things that cause saves to be made.

Well, to clarify, there ''is'' normal magic in iron heroes, the core principle is just that the players can't have any. The arcanist is the only player-accessible class with actual access to the supernatural, and their way is unreliable to outright suicidal, but the game allows and even encourages dropping antagonists with abilities from other systems in, and specifically mentions the fireball-casting wizard from the SRD. So the central theme of the setting is not so much "low magic" as "the players are always outmatched by the villains when it comes to funky powers". This is the reason every class has good saves despite the relative lack of player-accessible things that cause saves to be made.

* All classes have better than what DungeonsAndDragons would deem "good save progression" for all saves, to make up for there being no magical items to improve it.

* Many classes have abilities that relay on tokens accumulated in various ways (for instance, berserker tokens are gained by suffering damage; archer tokens are gained by spending time in aiming.) Some feats also open different kinds of 'token pools' that are available to any class.

* Executioner: [[{{NINJA}} A master of stealth kills and crippling hits]].
* Harrier: A common feature of d20 system games is that melee combat only really works if you are stationary, the harrier averts this as one of the few working [[LightningBruiser hit and run classes out there.]]

Well, to clarify, there _is_ normal magic in iron heroes, the core principle is just that the players can't have any. The arcanist is the only player-accessible class with actual access to the supernatural, and their way is unreliable to outright suicidal, but the game allows and even encourages dropping antagonists with abilities from other systems in, and specifically mentions the fireball-casting wizard from the SRD. So the central theme of the setting is not so much "low magic" as "the players are always outmatched by the villains when it comes to funky powers". This is the reason every class has good saves despite the relative lack of player-accessible things that cause saves to be made.

* Armiger: A specialist in [[MadeOfIron maximising his armour?s protection]]. When he is attacked everyone benefits.

Iron Heroes is a low fantasy game that sets out to capture the feel of stories like RobinHood or ConanTheBarbarian where heroes are [[BadassNormal capable of almost anything]] but magic is either non-existent or a dangerous and unpredictable force that can prove as dangerous to its users as to it targets. It does so quite well. It has no established setting, there are a few pointers but the material it does provide is meant to slot into any setting you make up for it. It uses the 3rd edition d20 system rules with some alterations, principle of which are:
* Armour gives Damage Reduction rather than making you harder to hit (shields still make you harder to hit).
* To compensate all classes have a Defense Bonus that increases with level.

* Two classes have access to an attack bonus that increases at a rate of 1.25 per hd when using certain weapons.
* Many classes have abilities that relay on tokens that are gained by doing certain things such as aiming.
* A mastery system for feats that makes certain feats easier to get for certain classes and turns most feats into their own feat tree.

Each class is more or less a heroic archetype of the ass kicking verity, with the only outwardly magical class being totally optional. The classes in the core book are: