6.2 Síntesis descriptiva de la actividad registrada en los puertos regionales
6.2.3 Puertos argentinos
As with the variant rules for experience, metagame mechan- ics allow you to alter the game to emphasize certain styles of play, types of actions, or facets of the game world. In many ways, the two types of rules cover the same ground. If you want to use both of them in one game, first consider the role that each one plays.
Experience awards are good for games that place a greater emphasis on gritty action and games where the characters
aren’t necessarily any better than other adventurers. For games that adhere to the core Iron Heroes rules and level of balance, use the alternate experience rules to encourage par- ticular types of actions.
Metagame mechanics let the players dodge bad luck or erase a harmful event. They’re somewhat arbitrary and tend to swing the balance of power toward the PCs. If you want a game that stresses heroism and success against long odds, metagame mechanics are a good choice.
You can use a metagame rule and alternate experience awards at the same time, but doing so requires special con- siderations. If both sets of mechanics reward the same actions, the characters might accumulate too much power too quickly, especially when compared to other characters who don’t rigorously fill the requirements needed to gain those benefits. This arrangement can work, but keep in mind that it gives double the reward (such as bonus XP or glory points) for one action. If some players aren’t committed to running their characters in a manner that’s consistent with the game’s tone, you might end up with a few characters who lag behind the group. This might become a problem with either set of rules, but it’s more troublesome if you use both variants at the same time.
Alternatively, you can use metagame mechanics to reward one type of action and bonus XP to reward a different action.
You can make this distinction by tying the mechanics to the campaign setting. For example, glory point rewards might be divine in nature. The gods watch the characters’ actions and reward their heroism. Experience point awards, on the other hand, represent self-confidence, insights, and accomplish- ments. The divide between the two rewards can help draw the line between the characters’ actions, goals, and motivations. Some characters may strive to earn the gods’ favor, while oth- ers seek to improve their talents on their own.
To create a serious divide between the two types of mechanics, you can use them to reward opposed actions. Characters might earn bonus XP for stealing from each other or escaping encounters unharmed, but they earn glory points by risking their lives for others. This sort of arrangement separates the two paths for characters—in this case, greed and charity. It might cause some trouble for party unity, but it can also provide fodder for good roleplay- ing. The greedy thief might decide to grab the treasure and run, while his companions must battle the monster that guards it.
As with any alteration to the core rules or any rule that requires DM judgment, be sure to talk your ideas over with the players. Good communication helps put everyone on the same page and clears up any misunderstandings before they can cause problems.
T
his appendix looks at various types of rules you mightwant to add to Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes and gives advice for converting them to this game. In addition, it offers ideas for using other game material in ways that you may not have considered before.CLASSES
The key characteristic of Iron Heroes is that it drops magic items as an important measure of a character’s power. Some other fantasy games do this, too, but Iron Heroes also keeps everything balanced against the core monster books. The characters must be balanced against chimeras, dragons, demons, and everything else.
This creates a gap in power between Iron Heroes classes and those drawn from other d20 System games. Generally speaking, an Iron Heroes character can easily defeat a fantasy character from a different game who doesn’t have an appro- priate load of magic items. Thus, it’s generally a bad idea to shift Iron Heroes classes to other games.
Luckily, the reverse is not true. While the warrior-type classes, such as fighter, paladin, ranger, and barbarian, are outmatched by their Iron Heroes counterparts, the spellcast-
ing classes make excellent additions as villain classes. Clerics, wizards, druids, and sorcerers have the magical firepower needed to pose a threat.
B
ASICC
HANGESA character class from another game gains a defense bonus equal to its base attack bonus and replaces its base saves with a save modifier equal to its level. Add all modifiers, such as ability scores, feats, and so on, as normal. In addition, switch the Hit Die of the new class to the Iron Heroes equiva- lent, unless it’s an NPC class. Imported classes gain a pool of reserve points and obey all other Iron Heroes rules, including the progression of new feats by level, as found in Iron Heroes.
Standard Hit Die Iron Heroes Hit Die
1d4 1d4 1d6 1d4+2 1d8 1d4+4 1d10 1d4+6 1d12 1d4+8
I
MPORTINGS
PELLCASTERSWhen incorporating a spellcasting class into Iron Heroes, you must increase the save DCs of its spells and account for its loss of magic items. Assign the class a defense bonus equal to its base attack bonus. The save Difficulty Class of a spell equals 10 + the minimum caster level needed to use the spell + the relevant ability modifier.
For example, fireball is a 3rd-level spell, and a wizard must be 5th level to use it. Thus, the save DC for a wizard’s fireball is 10 + 5 (the minimum caster level) + the wizard’s
Intelligence modifier.
In addition, add modifiers for feats as normal. This change is important, as Iron Heroes characters have higher saves than other classes do. If you use the standard save DCs, characters of Iron Heroes classes can almost ignore spells used by imported spellcasters.
The spellcasting classes work best as villains and powerful NPCs, particularly if they’re members of strange, alien races who have a natural affinity for the magical arts. You can also apply them to weaker outsiders and elementals to give them expanded abilities.