Mergining Conventional 3.5 with Iron Heroes

[kkortekaas]

Hey Folks,
I'm trying to hash out a way to merge the spell casting classes from D&D 3.5 with the classes from Iron Heroes. I want to try to maintain an even keel with the classes. Any suggestions?

The idea behind this is that I'd like to make a "grittier" Forgotten Realms setting where magic isn't as prelevant, but still has a place.

Thanks for your replies.

[Tinydwarfman]

You could just port them as is and increase the DCs for their spells (see last few pages of Mastering Iron Heroes)
The big 5 are so powerful anyway that you don't need to buff their abilities.

[Umael]

A couple of things to keep in mind about how Iron Heroes works versus 3.5.

1) Magic.
This is the big one. Magic is dangerous. Part of the reason the Arcanist doesn't overshadow the other nine classes in Iron Heroes is that there is always the chance that the spell will backfire. Magic items, which tend to help the melee types more, are also problematic, prone to doing obnoxious things like eating your soul. The fighter in 3.5 gets by because he has so many magical items. The man-at-arms in Iron Heroes gets without any kind of magic because he has more tricks.
Furthermore, Iron Heroes magic doesn't tend to be as game-breaking. There are some spells you just can't do in Iron Heroes, and so even a maxed-out Iron Hero won't cause the game to dissolve in a whimper.
2) In Iron Heroes, feats are a lot more common. Part of what makes the Iron Heroes characters over-the-top heroic without the magic.
3) Iron Heroes skill system allows for more flexibility, and people tend to have more skills in Iron Heroes. A lot.

(I know that more lists the problems than offers solutions, but once the problems are listed, you can take a look at them one by one.)

[kkortekaas]

How badly out of wack do you think it'd get if I did the following.

- No Wonderous items
- Incredibly rare magic armor and weapons. (ie. The king has a +1 Longsword, but its more a symbol then anything else)
- Wizards exist, but they're very mysterious and few and far between
- I'd leave the Wizards alone class wise, but disallow any item creation feats.
- Sorcerers would likely exist as is.

What do you guys think?