Checking interest in Iron Heroes

[Habbalah]

Great! Sounds like we have 3 players. I'd like to have one more, but if necessary I'll run a PC/NPC as a filler. I'd like to hear more about the characters that people would like to play. If you know IH, then feel free to pick a class and traits and what not and post a character here. If you're not that familar with the campaign world, then just post the sort of character you'd like to play and we can work out the details one on one.

Here's the character starting stuff:
We'll use any of the Iron Heroes books and ONLY the Iron Heroes books. If you something else in mind, then let me know and we can see if we can work it out. But, otherwise, I want to try Iron Heroes in its pure form.

Ability scores are generated with the point buy system in the 3.5 DMG except that the starting ability scores are 10 instead of 8. Players will have 24 points to spend.

Everyone starts with two traits, but only one can be a background trait.

Remember, all skills are class skills, but be sure to check your skill groups. Also, some skills work differently in IH, so be sure that the skill does what you think it does.

A special note on crafting: don't blow them off. In a game where there are very few (if any) magic items, mundane items become much more important. Also, armor and weapons can get expensive to make and repair. I also tend to have down time between adventures and between adventures which allow characters to go off and do their own thing for a bit. This can be a Thief using her Bluff and Diplomacy to start up a few business deals or an Armiger using his Craft (metal tools/trinkets) to make a kick *** suit of armor.

All characters start with two feats at 1st level. But, remember that the Feat Mastery system may mean that you aren't qualified for all feats based on your class.

All characters start with 100gp.

I don't worry about encumberance within reason.

I'll write up more about the background of the campaign world tomorrow.

[Elf]

...
Ability scores are generated with the point buy system in the 3.5 DMG except that the starting ability scores are 10 instead of 8. Players will have 24 points to spend.
...

Just so I am clear... This means that to go from 10 to 11 costs 1; 11 to 12 costs 1; etc up to 15; going from 15 to 16 cost 2 and going from 17 to 18 costs 4?

This is for those that do not have the IH PHB (page 17 has this method)

[Habbalah]

Yes, use the method on p. 17 in the IH PHB. Sorry for any confusion.

[Elf]

As for character...

Hunter is my first choice for a class will wait for world background though before I make a decision.

[Habbalah]

Brief History
Human history as it is currently known only goes back a little over a century. Up until that time, the world was dominated by the Masters. No one alive today really remembers the Masters, what they were, or what they did. Some believe that they were an ancient race of mortals that wielded magic as easily as a human warrior wields an axe. Others believe that they were gods and worship them as such. But, everyone knows for certain that there was a great war that covered the whole world.

No one really knows what the war was about, who started it, or even who fought it. Some people believe that humans were created by the Masters to fight in the war. Other people believe that humans were enslaved and forced to work for the Masters. But, what is known is that the war ended about a century ago and all of the Masters have disappeared, leaving behind cyclopean, ruined cities, twisted monsters that roam desolate wastelands, and great treasures just waiting for adventurers foolish enough to collect them.

Geography and Local History
The region in which the campaign will take place is known as the New Coast. It comes from the fact that about a century ago a battle in the great war caused a gigantic seismic shift which caused the ocean to rush miles inland. A small farming village called Malador existed on top of a hill some 20 miles from the nearest coast. The massive tidal wave moved across the land, destroying the eastern half of the village (and the hill it was on) and turned the farming village into a coastal fishing village in a matter of days.

The first few generations after the flood, the village did not change much. The farmers tried their hands at fishing without much luck. There was also a sudden influx of refugees as people from the surrounding area were driven out by the newly formed Ghostlands and Grey Steppes, more remnants of the Masters’ war.

But, about 50 years ago, there was a discovery that changed Malador. Some fishermen seeking bigger schools of fish went far away from the coast. What they discovered were the spires of an ancient city sticking out of the sea. Curious, they dove down to investigate and found treasures worth more than a boatload of fish. After that, many others tried their hands and people were turned from paupers to princes overnight. However, it was quickly discovered that ancient traps and new dangers were also to be found in the city, which became known as The Drowning Towers.

By this point, the city had grown and its original inhabitants had grown wealthy. Also, the news of The Drowning Towers had spread around and adventurers from the surrounding area had come to Malador to find their fame and fortune. So, the city set up a system in which anyone can go to the towers, but Malador keeps one half of all the treasure that is brought up.

The area around Malador is composed of the Malador River, which runs near the city and Bleakwater Wood, a forest that surrounds the city. Just to the north are the Grey Steppe, an area that was once lush and fertile farms that were turned to arid dust during the Masters’ war. Further north, the steppe turns into a true Ghostland in which a man would be choked to death on the burning dust and ash, assuming other horrors don’t find him first.

Further to the west of Malador lies the kingdom of Borat. The capital and largest city of this state, also named Borat, is less than half the size of Malador. However, in total the kingdom has a population size five times that of Malador and is ruled by a man calling himself King Darragan.

Religion and Whatnot
As things stand now, religions are very disorganized. There are no well established churches. In fact, gods as we think of them in most D&D games do not exist. Rather, these are ideals that people follow that are given some kind of name. In other areas, animism and shamanism are more common. Cults pop up regularly and every once and a while an Arcanist or a Spiritualist will appear and try to form his own cult. But, this is a time in which the majority of people don’t really see the point in worshipping anything at all.

As far as info for characters, the details have been intentionally left out. Part of creating your character should be adding a bit to the world. For instance, if you are playing a Berserker, you should also say a bit about the area from which he came. Maybe he belongs to a nomadic tribe that lives along the fringes of the Grey Steppe and worship the animals that live there. Feel free to create a bit of your culture to fit in with your character. I will have the final say, but as long as it isn’t too disruptive to the other players and doesn’t violate the feel of the campaign world, then I’ll most likely approve it and try to get it into the campaign somehow.

[Blue Haven]

Sorry but i can´t play i´m out...
Thanks anyway for the help
Bye

[Archamus]

This posting made me curious about IH so I went and bought it. So far I like it, a lot. I'm very interested in joining the game. Unfortunately I'm moving in February and once I move I will be out of town on the weekends, so will not be able to play on Friday, Saturday or until the afternoon on Sunday. If the game is during the week or in the afternoons on Sunday I can play though.

Elf you said that you can play on Friday or Saturday, did that mean that those are your only available days?

[Ram Tyr]

When the time comes to determine the day and time of the campaign sessions, please let me know. If it is at a convenient time, I am in.

Later.

[Habbalah]

Great! I'm glad there's more interest out there.

On the day and time, how about Tuesday evenings? I can probably start around 7pm central (GMT-6). Another option is that we start playing on the weekends and when February rolls around then we just switch the day and times. I'm reluctant to do that because it's based on the hope that in a few months everyone's schedules will still mesh. So, I'd like to come up with something now and stick with it. If we go with Tuesday evenings, then the first game session will be on Dec 11 (after my classes are done). Let me know how that works for all of you.

If that sounds good to you, then send me a PM with an email address with which I can contact you and maybe we can get together on IM and work out the details of your character before we all meet for the first game.

As far as which classes will fit into the game, I don't think there's a class in IH that WOULDN'T fit into the game, so don't worry about that too much. The only reluctance may be in one of the magic using classes, but that's just because the magic system is set up that if you roll poorly (yes, you have to roll to cast spells they don't just happen like in DnD), then you will take hit point or ability score damage. So, one bad roll could kill or cripple your character. Also, because magic is so rare in this world, I will only allow one spell casting character in the party. Whoever sends me the best character background and concept will get to play that class.

[Elf]

Monday, Friday and Saturdays are my available nights; Tuesdays does not work as that night is booked.