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Iron Heroes: A low magic tabletop game
ajs writes "Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes is an advanced role playing rule book, based on Wizards of the Coast's d20 System (the rules that underpin the current edition of Dungeons & Dragons). What's unusual about it is that it presents both a setting and rules for "low magic" fantasy that doesn't sacrifice high adventure to get its gritty action." Read the rest of Aaron's review.
Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes
author
Mike Mearls
pages
240
publisher
rating
9
reviewer
Aaron Sherman
ISBN
1-58846-796-1
summary
d20 System variant Player's Handbook
Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes (I'm just going to call it Iron Heroes from here on) is published under Cook's imprint, Malhavoc Press, by Sword & Sorcery who are best known for their d20 System rules variants and supplements. Sword & Sorcery, in turn, is owned by White Wolf Publishing, well known for their World of Darkness line of storytelling games. Originally titled "Iron Lore", the title was changed before publication due to legal entanglements. But, enough about the publisher, let's discuss the book.
Mike Mearls, a regular contributor to Dragon Magazine and long-time d20 System author, has a vision, it seems. His Iron Heroes game gives us a window into a world where the fabled dragon-slaying knight doesn't carry a glowing trinket of a sword that solves his problems, but has to rely on his skills and experience. On its own, this would be a serious undertaking, but the goal of Iron Heroes is to balance such a world as closely as possible with the established mechanics, threats and rewards of the d20 System. This is something which I would have considered difficult enough to be impractical before I read Iron Heroes.
The book begins by explaining that inexperienced role players need not apply. This is intended as an advanced rulebook, and those not already familiar with d20 will have everything that they need, but may find the book daunting (this is the only major flaw I've found in the book). If you are aware of the d20 System, you will note that none of the usual d20 classes are there. Instead of the rogue, there is a thief. Instead of barbarian, there is a berserker. These are not capricious name changes, however, since the mechanics of each of these variant classes are quite different from their d20 equivalents. More on why in a bit...
To begin to explore the idea behind Iron Heroes, imagine the iconic fantasy setting that D&D generally presents. Now suppose that you make two changes: there are no overt gods interfering with the daily workings of the world (and hence, no divine magic), and magic itself is a wild and dangerous force, not to be toyed with lightly or without consequences.
These two changes produce a world in which the focus of high fantasy adventure turns from the wizard and the magic sword to the muscle-bound weapon master or the stealthy thief. To compensate for the fact that the characters will not have access to powerful magic, each of the core classes in Iron Heroes is substantially more powerful than their standard d20 counterparts. The base attack bonuses (BAB) increase at a faster pace and feats are gained much more quickly than in the SRD (the official, and freely available d20 System rules).
For the rest of the system, the mechanical differences can be summed up as follows:
Of course, the most glaringly different element of Iron Heroes from d20 is the magic system. Magic is dangerous and unpredictable in Iron Heroes, so while there is an "arcanist" class, their spells are used cautiously and often with consequences. The magic system itself is quite different from d20. An arcanist pulls "mana" from elsewhere and focuses it using a "method". Methods are the mechanical effects of a spell, but the strength and "special effects" (to use a Hero System term) of a spell are determined by the amount of mana used and the player's preference respectively. This makes for a magic system which is much more flexible than in standard d20, but not as free-form as, say, the magic system from White Wolf's Mage. Magic is also quite a bit more limited in Iron Heroes, but I imagine that that will be addressed by later supplements.
The system is not easily combined with an existing campaign, so don't look to Iron Heroes for classes to add to your existing characters or for NPCs to introduce into other games. In a world full of magic items, for example, Iron Heroes combat classes would be far too powerful, and Iron Heroes arcanists would be hobbled by the restrictions on their magic use.
In short: this game marks—for me—what the d20 System and the Open Gaming License are all about. It presents a rich set of mechanics that build in compatible ways on what we already have access to, and gives us new ground to cover in the already well-covered ground of the fantasy role playing industry."
You can purchase Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes (I'm just going to call it Iron Heroes from here on) is published under Cook's imprint, Malhavoc Press, by Sword & Sorcery who are best known for their d20 System rules variants and supplements. Sword & Sorcery, in turn, is owned by White Wolf Publishing, well known for their World of Darkness line of storytelling games. Originally titled "Iron Lore", the title was changed before publication due to legal entanglements. But, enough about the publisher, let's discuss the book.
Mike Mearls, a regular contributor to Dragon Magazine and long-time d20 System author, has a vision, it seems. His Iron Heroes game gives us a window into a world where the fabled dragon-slaying knight doesn't carry a glowing trinket of a sword that solves his problems, but has to rely on his skills and experience. On its own, this would be a serious undertaking, but the goal of Iron Heroes is to balance such a world as closely as possible with the established mechanics, threats and rewards of the d20 System. This is something which I would have considered difficult enough to be impractical before I read Iron Heroes.
The book begins by explaining that inexperienced role players need not apply. This is intended as an advanced rulebook, and those not already familiar with d20 will have everything that they need, but may find the book daunting (this is the only major flaw I've found in the book). If you are aware of the d20 System, you will note that none of the usual d20 classes are there. Instead of the rogue, there is a thief. Instead of barbarian, there is a berserker. These are not capricious name changes, however, since the mechanics of each of these variant classes are quite different from their d20 equivalents. More on why in a bit...
To begin to explore the idea behind Iron Heroes, imagine the iconic fantasy setting that D&D generally presents. Now suppose that you make two changes: there are no overt gods interfering with the daily workings of the world (and hence, no divine magic), and magic itself is a wild and dangerous force, not to be toyed with lightly or without consequences.
These two changes produce a world in which the focus of high fantasy adventure turns from the wizard and the magic sword to the muscle-bound weapon master or the stealthy thief. To compensate for the fact that the characters will not have access to powerful magic, each of the core classes in Iron Heroes is substantially more powerful than their standard d20 counterparts. The base attack bonuses (BAB) increase at a faster pace and feats are gained much more quickly than in the SRD (the official, and freely available d20 System rules).
For the rest of the system, the mechanical differences can be summed up as follows:
- Feats are more tree-like, allowing progression and specialization in each feat.
- Skills and other actions can be used in creative ways by players and game masters alike, with a well balanced system for determining difficulty of unusual "stunts" and "challenges".
- Traits, a "variant rule" in standard d20, are a core mechanic in Iron Heroes.
- Since magical healing is rare at best, characters have reserves of hit points that they can make use of between encounters.
- Armor class is replaced by defense and damage reduction. Defense is the active capacity that a character has to avoid a blow. Armor, on the other hand, reduces damage taken by a character, using the standard d20 rules for damage reduction.
Of course, the most glaringly different element of Iron Heroes from d20 is the magic system. Magic is dangerous and unpredictable in Iron Heroes, so while there is an "arcanist" class, their spells are used cautiously and often with consequences. The magic system itself is quite different from d20. An arcanist pulls "mana" from elsewhere and focuses it using a "method". Methods are the mechanical effects of a spell, but the strength and "special effects" (to use a Hero System term) of a spell are determined by the amount of mana used and the player's preference respectively. This makes for a magic system which is much more flexible than in standard d20, but not as free-form as, say, the magic system from White Wolf's Mage. Magic is also quite a bit more limited in Iron Heroes, but I imagine that that will be addressed by later supplements.
The system is not easily combined with an existing campaign, so don't look to Iron Heroes for classes to add to your existing characters or for NPCs to introduce into other games. In a world full of magic items, for example, Iron Heroes combat classes would be far too powerful, and Iron Heroes arcanists would be hobbled by the restrictions on their magic use.
In short: this game marks—for me—what the d20 System and the Open Gaming License are all about. It presents a rich set of mechanics that build in compatible ways on what we already have access to, and gives us new ground to cover in the already well-covered ground of the fantasy role playing industry."
You can purchase Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Since the link isn't working, I'll ask here: what classes are in the game?
Of the base D&D classes, only two (warriors and barbarians) have zero magic-derived abilities. A couple more (rangers, rogues, maybe monks and paladins) could be fairly easily adapted to be magic-free. But is that it? Or did Monte cook up (pun intended) some new and innovative magic-free classes for us?
Many of the new feats and classes are strongly reliant on a battle grid. But that's just D20 for you. You can certainly play without a battle grid, but everything assumes that you are using a mat and miniatures.
People keep reinventing the wheel. It is neat that this is a D20 system, but low magic systems are plentiful.
My favorite low-magic system is slightly biased towards mages, namely Ars Magica. It is on its 5th version (2nd was my favorite.)
It has a magic system where you can create spells on the fly, healing is difficult, and god is real (and so is the Devil)
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
Uhm... DnD has allways really been a tactical game, depending on how you approach it. I remember playing ADnD and the DM putting out a massive (1mx500mm) grid on the table and drawing on it with washable marker and things, we used lil plastic soldiers for markers and so on. Now i'm not saying DND is allways about tactical combat but it certainly is a core theme of it, given its origins. All that aside i havnt seen this rule book myself, but it does sound interesting, the idea of a better/different armour system and also more powerfull "basic" non magical classes sound good to me. Makes a big change from the "invincible" mages you end up facing so much :(
Now, I have a sample size of one, so I don't know if this is just a case of a DM with very different ideas of what should go on in a game of D&D or what, but it seems to me that RPGs aren't what they once were. When I go to local game stores, I just can't find much that captures what they were like back in the day. Is there something out there for people like me, looking for a more old-school kind of game outside of an MMORPG?
RPGs seem to have become way too bloody serious. I just want to kill some kobolds.
"Why can't everyone just be straight with me?"
"Because we live in a bendy world, dear."
Harn was, as you note, dull. Iron heroes isn't. It's a sword&sorcery setting with the 'sorcery' pretty much in the hands of NPCs or suicidal PCs. The focus is on Cool Combat, not on how many hecatres of wheat you can grown. Think Conan or Thieve's World.
Try GURPS. It's much less prone to power gaming. When a superhero can be taken down by a grenade as easily as a conscript, you have to think about your actions a bit more. Although I noticed that the new version seems to have left out powerstones (basically mana batteries), which makes being a D&D style combat mage much more difficult in GURPS v4. It also helps to have a more mature group to play with.
I've done a lot of tabletop role playing. I've played D&D in many forms (Basic, Advanced, 2nd ed., and d20-based 3.5). I've also played GURPS, Traveller, Champions (as "Champions", but I've also played a number of Hero System variants), World of Darkness (a few Mage games and a Wraith game), Shadowrun, some home-grown systems and some other stuff I'm probably forgetting.
While I don't want to enter into the flame-infested waters of "what's best", I will say this: good role playing and a creative GM/DM/storyteller/what-have-you is far, far more important than what system or setting you choose. If everyone knows D&D, by all means use it, but don't feel constrained. Focus on the quality of play.
I tend to avoid single-genre systems, which is why I'd written off D&D for many years (I was barely aware of 3.0's release), but the fact that I was dragged out of GURPS and Hero System into some World of Darkness games made me remember that, even using a system that I despised, role playing was fun. That's why, when I asked my friends to join a game I was planning, I reluctantly chose to use D&D 3.5...
And now, I'm hooked. d20 is everything that D&D should have been from day one. The Microsoft of games? I think not... perhaps the Linux of games would be more like it. It's based on a rich history going back to the early 70s, and yet it's completely new. It retains some of the quirks of the original (e.g. classes), but for the most part, it's a ground-up redesign with modern usage in mind. It's also free (though in the case of d20, it's a non-commercial sort of "free", but you can still run a pretty good game from nothing but the d20 SRD).
The book begins by explaining that inexperienced role players need not apply. This is intended as an advanced rulebook, and those not already familiar with d20 will have everything that they need, but may find the book daunting (this is the only major flaw I've found in the book).
"Inexperienced role players need not apply"? A more appropriate sentence would be: "This book is only for rollplayers* with at least three advanced mathematics degrees."
Seriously, though, I've read it, and if you're the type who likes tons of solid rules about what you can and cannot do in combat, along with more Final Fantasy style limit break special moves than you can put in a Bag of Holding, it's the book for you. But you'd better be ready for some slow combat, 'cause there's lots of stuff for you to keep track of.
IMO, this is more of a miniatures wargaming ruleset than a roleplaying ruleset. If you're more into roleplaying, you're probably better off with a more abstract combat system; then you can do whatever sort of cinematic moves you want, with a single role.
* Misspelling deliberate
"Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
-Marilyn Manson
When I was in the US several years ago I visited a mall, and noticed that they had a D&D shop next to the mall eatery. You know, a shop where they sell board and roleplaying games targetting the geek/nerd community.
In any case, what surprised me most were comments I heard while I was sitting there eating. Many people had a very, very negative image of the shop. I counted at least eight negative comments during the 15 or so minutes I was sitting there.
I have to wonder how much the negative image such gaming has in the eyes of popular culture leans people away from investigating it. It is quite likely that many of those who made the negative comments had never actually played any of the games in question, yet they still felt the need to believe the negative (and false) stereotypes associated with such games.
Perhaps the industry should work on legitimizing such games in the eyes of the general public. Even a single celebrity endorsement might turn the tide.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
The fight between Gandalf and Saruman in the film was... probably not how it went. I imagine it as being a mirror-image of the confrontation with Saruman after the ruin of Isengard - just as Saruman caved in before Gandalf the White without putting up a fight, I imagine Gandalf the Grey didn't really attempt to resist Saruman. It would be pointless. It's also not made clear that the weather on Caradhras was Saruman's doing; it might have been Sauron's influence, or even malevolence on the part of the mountain itself.
However, open magical combat was seen on Weathertop, and at the climax of Gandalf's duel with the Balrog of Moria on Zirak-zigil. Those both made a considerable mess.
As for the magical swords, Glamdring was effective against the Balrog, Narsil was able to cut clear through the... flesh?... of the hitherto invulnerable Dark Lord, and as Andúril, the Flame of the West held similar terrors for all creatures of the Darkness - with some indications that it literally does flame. However, it's unclear whether its powers here derived from the sword itself, or from its being in the hand of the rightful King. And while Boromir's sword bounced off the hide of the cave troll of Moria, Sting, the elven dagger of old Gondolin, cut it deeply.
As for the One Ring: well, that's powerful mojo any way you cut it, unless, as you say, you pretend the story ended with The Hobbit and that Gandalf never found that *Identify* scroll in the vaults of Minas Tirith...
You're right in saying that the world of Middle-Earth is one of generally low magic, in the roleplaying sense, but the heroes of the War of the Ring are exceptions. There are only five Wizards in the world, but they're powerful. There are many rings of trivial magic like invisibility, such that a Wizard might safely leave in the hands of a clueless hobbit, but may the Valar save anyone who dares meddle with one of the twenty Rings of real Power. High-powered magic exists only in rare cases, usually as a relic of the Elder Days.
Moreover, the model of magic is rather different in Tolkien's world. It's subtle. Galadriel does not draw a distinction between the works of superior elven-craft and works of magic - she doesn't even clearly understand how such a distinction can be drawn. Magic is the result of a deeper understanding of the underlying, spiritual nature of the matter of Arda, not of any mysterious external force.
Incidentally, in writing the above it occurred to me to try to gauge the strength of the Balrog of Moria by comparing it to the entire Dwarf-city it supposedly overthrew - thereby demonstrating how mighty Gandalf and Glamdring must have been to harm it. But I just can't see it happening. The masked dwarves of Belegost were at the Battle of Tears Unnumbered, where they fought bravely and well against the dragon-horde of Morgoth - while Men betrayed the Eldar and the great armies of the Noldor were destroyed. Yet Belegost was a much smaller Dwarf-realm than Khazad-dum.
I wonder if perhaps the ruin of the kingdoms of the Noldor caused a collapse in demand for mithril equipment? Certainly none of the kingdoms of Men could afford such expensive armament. With the mithril market in deep recession much of Khazad-dum would likely be abandoned as Dwarves sought a living elsewhere in the world, leaving the deep mines empty as a hiding place for the Balrog fleeing the destruction of Angband.
And perhaps once the rise of the Dunedain provided a market once more for such exotic materials, the Dwarves returned to their deep mines, and got a nasty surprise...
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
If they think I'm going to kiss their butts just because they've given me "permission" to do what was always legal to do (but for their horde of lawyers), they've got another thing coming.
It has always been legal to re-design Windows from the ground up.
It has NOT always been legal to copy Windows and turn it into whatever you want it to.
The OGL is a significant and real copyleft, no matter what you may have been told by "fandom" types who think D&D is a terrible game that everyone should abandon for their particular rule. The exact text of anything released under the OGL can be reproduced in ammounts far exceeding anything that a Court would recognize as fair use--up to and including selling the SRD as a seperate product.
The d20 License, OTOH, is a shameless attempt to get their logo on other people's compatible games. Except that, by and large, the companies who put it on their books (like Malhavoc and Mongoose) are the ones pushing for the logo, not Wizards.