Saturday, July 7, 2012

Converting Iron Heroes to 2e

Every couple of months I get it into my head that I want to play Dark Sun. I look over all the books and systems, and decide that I absolutely can't stand playing it in 2nd edition anymore because of the dependence of the system on characters acquiring magic items.
  So I always end up reaching for my Iron Heroes books, which, tbh, have always looked good on paper, but then I was never really reading anything very closely, and somehow completely missed all the proto-4e stuff in the skill section.
  I finally managed to somehow get through all the class conversions(Even have a workable Complete Psionics Handbook Conversion of the Psionicist to Iron Heroes which is something I've not managed to do, and have been trying to figure out since 2007 when I actually got the idea the first time), but ended up getting stuck in the skills section.
  I ended up talking to a friend about how much I wish there was a way to just drop the whole bloody skill system in d20(which is a big reason as to why I left playing d20 in the first place), when  my friend says, "Why not convert Dark Sun to 2e" which made me laugh for obvious reasons, but then it got me thinking . . . . why not convert the stuff I like in Iron Heroes to 2nd edition?
   Get ready folks . . . AD&D 2nd edition's Iron Heroes is coming! Over the next few days, I'll start posting classes and stuff as I get them sorted out.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Cantrip effect ideas

 I recently sent the party a list of things that the Cantrip spell could do off the top of my head. Thus, it's a continuation of this article. I'm reprinting the list here so A) it doesn't get lost, and B) because I'm trying to get back into updating this blog regularly.

Possible Cantrip Effects:
  • +/-1 to a single check for the following types of rolls: Ability, Open Door, Encounter Reaction, Saving Throw, Initiative, or Secret/Hidden Object/Door.
  • +/- 5% to a single check for the following types of rolls: Thieving Skills, Hear Noise, Climbing, Bend Bars/Lift Gates, System Shock, Resurrection Survival, or Avoiding Getting Lost.
  • +/- 1 to the damage of another caster's spell.
  • +/- 5 Feet to the range or Area of Effect of another caster's spell or a single ranged attack.
  • +1 bonus to a Slashing or Piercing weapon's damage(by sharpening in) on their next attack attempt(effect fades whether the attack hits or misses).
  • Causes a Slashing or Piercing weapon to do -1 damage until it is sharpened w/ magic or whetstone(Can be used cumulatively to a max of -3, but no weapon may do less than 1 point of damage)
  • -1 AC bonus vs. Ranged Attacks from a range of 30' or greater.
  • +1 AC penalty vs. Ranged Attacks from a range of 30' or less.
  • +/-1  to AC vs. a single Melee attack(may not make an AC better than 7 or worse than 10).
  • Heal 1 hp of damage within 1 round of sustaining the injury or Stabilize one character below 0 hp(In my campaign this is the same as applying a bandage, and thus I feel this doesn't really step on the cleric's toes).
  • Increase/decrease a character's movement rate by 3. Can't make a character move slower than 0.
  • Increase/decrease  the movement rate of an animal of Tiny size by half.
  • Cook Food/Boil Water/Chill Drink/Season Food for 1 meal.
  • Light a Fire.
  • Preserve 1 pound of inanimate matter per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds(herbs, food, spell components, etc).
  • Age 1 pound of inanimate matter per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds by 1 week.
  • Instantly clean/dirty or dry/dampen 1 character/object.(may provide a bonus/penalty on saves!)
  • Repel normal, non-magical insects.
  • Summon a single stinging/biting insect or other small creature. The creature may cause disease, be poisonous, or interrupt spellcasting w/ an attack(DM determines)
  • Automatically know the # of a certain object in a pile.
  • Will Dye or color one object or creature any color you'd like(lasts until the creature next takes a bath)
  • Style hair, and even cause it to grow. This is how all those dungeon-punk wizards manage to keep a perfect mohawk in a world without Hairspray or Glue.(lasts until the creature next takes a bath)
  • Create a seemingly magical aura around yourself or another character/object.
  • Cause an NPC to make a morale check.
  • Creates a single object of 1 pound per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds. The object is fragile and is obvious magical nature.
  • Manipulate 1 object of 1 pound per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds within 10'
  • Create a 5' radius light.
  • Extend/Decrease the radius of a light source by 5'.
  • Animate the remains of a single tiny creature(such as a songbird or mouse). The caster has to concentrate to keep  the creature animated. It's movements are jerky(it can't attack or fly) and slow(half the speed it had in life).
Of course, there are a ton of other options, and I may post more of them later.