Obsidian Heroes

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

zombiegleemax

Dec 16, 2005 9:30:09
I'm curious if I'm the only one who has considered porting the Dark Sun setting to the Iron Heroes d20 ruleset. If not, has anyone come up with a good way of addressing preserver/defiler magic and psionics with the IH rules? I love IH's combat and I think it's perfect for Dark Sun's grittiness, but the whole magic part of IH leaves a lot to be desired.
#2

nytcrawlr

Dec 16, 2005 9:38:03
I'm curious if I'm the only one who has considered porting the Dark Sun setting to the Iron Heroes d20 ruleset. If not, has anyone come up with a good way of addressing preserver/defiler magic and psionics with the IH rules? I love IH's combat and I think it's perfect for Dark Sun's grittiness, but the whole magic part of IH leaves a lot to be desired.

The magic system is why I am just using some parts of Iron Heroes instead of doing a full port.

In fact that's my issue with a lot of the d20 systems out there that tout the whole less magic thing, when what they really mean is less powerful magic, which doesn't work for DS.

The whole relying more on what your class gives you and the general equipment you start out with is cool though, and I will be incorporating much of what I can of the system into my own rules, which seem to be taking a little from Grim Tales, Conan, athas.org material and very little from Paizo's DS material.
#3

zombiegleemax

Dec 16, 2005 9:41:02
Yeah, Conan d20 was another system I was looking at, but I haven't had a chance yet to read through the book fully. :D

It's not that I mind the "less magic" idea so much, as I'm not against de-emphasizing magic and psionics in Dark Sun, but the magic system in IH is flawed even beyond being just less magic. I've just had no luck working with it in a DS setting.
#4

nytcrawlr

Dec 16, 2005 9:57:16
Yeah, Conan d20 was another system I was looking at, but I haven't had a chance yet to read through the book fully. :D

The extra feat for not multiclassing out of your favored class rules instead of the multiclassing penalty I really like and am using.

There was something else I am using from Conan but can't remember what it is at this time.

It's not that I mind the "less magic" idea so much, as I'm not against de-emphasizing magic and psionics in Dark Sun

Well, I am going more for a less magic/psionic item emphasis and only having wizards and maybe sorcerers in my rules be arcane casters, aside from PrCs.

So that's the "less magic" thing I am going for, a system that doesn't rely on the CR system and how much equipment you have at y level in order to remain "balanced". I still want the high emphasis on magic because that is essence of Dark Sun, along with a higher emphasis on psionics.

One of these days I will just stop using the forget and fire magic system that D&D loves and I hate, and switch to something more free-form, and as well switch to a feat and skill based psionic system.
#5

zombiegleemax

Dec 21, 2005 10:17:56
Iron Heroes struck me as being a really cool system to put some spice back into the usual hack and slash combat that I see in my campaigns sometimes. What I thought really shined was the sheer amount of tactics and different things you could do each round in combat. Instead of your warrior just hacking away with a sword and a d20, he can hold his ground to do different kinds of attacks in later rounds, jump off walls to spear larger things through the head, etc. etc. I also got the Mastering Iron Heroes book which has some simple yet useful tips for importing spellcasters (and hence psionics) into an Iron Heroes campaign. Essentially, you give them a boost to saves and a Defense rating as well as hit points, to bring them in line with the other classes in IH, then increase the DC of their powers/spells by the minimum caster level needed to use that power/spell, rather than using the power/spell's level. That way the other classes won't have such an easy time making their saves against your powers. Also, the non-human races essentially lose the 2 traits that IH players get in place of their racial abilities.
#6

nytcrawlr

Dec 21, 2005 12:05:54
Cool. I really need to look at the Mastering book then. I skimmed over it a little but that was it. It sounds like it pretty much covers all my issues and complaints and resolves them quite eloquently.
#7

zombiegleemax

Dec 21, 2005 12:07:22
I just picked up the Mastering book the other day. I did immediately like the idea of Villian classes for Dark Sun (perfect for things like sorcerer-kings, champions, dragons, etc.). I also liked the idea of the Zones in combat, since the environment has always factored heavily into my Dark Sun games.
#8

glacialis

Dec 21, 2005 12:24:30
Don't know if I've mentioned this here before.

I promote Dark Sun -- and this board and athas.org -- at forums dedicated to the Midnight campaign setting by FFG, and it's time I did the reverse.

Both Midnight and Dark Sun are gritty, dark, oppressive settings and many ideas cross freely between them. Both work well with bits of Conan added in. Midnight can really inspire a darker feel for Athas, and Athas can teach any setting a bit about "gritty"!

againsttheshadow.org -- Best and most active fan site for Midnight.

fantasyflightgames.com/midnight.html -- What it's all about.

As for Iron Heroes? I like it, but the magic system is right out. Midnight and Dark Sun are both rare magic, not low magic. If IH was made more modular and portable, I'd use it in a heartbeat.