Character 3: Iron Heroes

Monte Cooke's variant to Dungeons and Dragons is about two things: Kicking ass and taking names.

Iron Heroes is a game that rewards you for being creative in combat. Everything from class features to feats to combat challenges makes you work for every last +1 bonus that will give you the edge over your opponent. If a player's action during a round of combat in Iron Heroes is ever "I full attack", you're doing it wrong!

Classes revolve around fighting styles rather than archetypes. For instance, the harrier emphasises mobile warfare while the berserker is all about taking the pain and then dishing it out again ten-fold!

Skill groups and universal class skills make those choices a lot simpler too. Even the dumbest character can have 3 or 4 skills fully maxed out at each level, meaning that your combat god isn't going to trip over his own shoelaces.

Were I to ever run a game of Iron Heroes, i think I'd leave out the arcanist class. It helps keep the game "pure" and the class itself is unsuprisingly the major component of all powergamer builds.


It appears that the dice gods favour me today!
17,16,15,16,14,11

Very, very nice. Only one score without a bonus, and all of those are +2 or more. My character is indeed a very exceptional specimen of humanity.

There are ten classes, so a roll of 7 on that gives me a man-at-arms, the solid all-around warrior. Here's what i've come up with:

Gideon the White, Man-at-arms
1st level Traits: Charismatic, Weapon bond (Bastard sword)

Abilities
Str 16
Dex 16
Con 15
Int 14
Wis 9
Cha 19

Combat
Defense 21 (Passive +3, Active +8) (requires use of overwhelming presence at start of combat)
DR 1d3 (studded leather armour)
Hit Points 12
Reserve 12
Attack: Bastard sword +6, damage 1d10+4
Initiative +3
Fort +4 Ref +3 Will +0

Feats
Exotic Weapon proficiency (bastard sword): May use bastard sword without penalty
Overwhelming presence 1: At the beginning of combat, Gideon may spend a move action intimidating his opponents. For the rest of the combat, he may apply his charima bonus as an active bonus to defense.
Weapon focus (bastard sword) 1: +1 to attacks with a bastard sword.

Equipment
Studded Leather armour, Heavy steel shield, Bastard Sword, backpack, bedroll, waterskin, 50ft hempen rope, 3 torches, 4 days trail rations, flint and steel, 62 gp, 8 sp, 7 cp

Skills
Bluff +8, Climb +4, Diplomacy +8, Gather information +8, Hide +4 Initimidate +8, Jump+4, Listen +3, Move Silently +4, Ride +7, Search +6, Sense Motive +3, Spot +3, Survival +3, Swim +4, Tumble +4


Thought you'd never see a warrior based around charisma? Well think again! Traits like weapon bond and feats like overwhelming presence, coupled with the fact that every skill in iron heroes is a class skill for every character means that Gideon here is just as deadly off the battlefield as he is on. He's got a decent defense and attack bonus for a first level character and a nice array of social skills. The flexibility of the man-at-arms class really came in handy here

The bastard sword focus seems like a natural choice for a man-at-arms as the eventual wild feat slots can be used for finesse and power feats. Heck, with a charima like that, those slots could even be handily used for social feats, allowing Gideon to build up a nice political power base and cut down all who stand in his way!