Last night I had a fantastic conversation about Apocalypse World / Dungeon World and hacking, during which the conversation of Iron Kingdoms came up.
For those not familiar, in IK (not d20 IK), there are four archetypes, of which you choose one, and then there are about 25 careers, of which you choose two.
I’m thinking of porting something similar to Iron Kingdoms over (IK World)? Basically, making four playbooks (I like the IK idea of Gifted, Intellectual, Mighty and Skilled (I think that’s the four), but I’m not married to them), and building them with fewer starting moves, and then having lots of Compendium Classes, of which you start off with two.
Basically, the archetypes are just mandatory starting Compendium Classes with lots more additional moves.
Thoughts?
I like the concept. So the archetypes would give you 2-3 moves, then each career would give you 1 more? Sounds cool!
I like the idea of a couple starting moves and then 2-4 move compendium classes instead of advanced moves for leveling up. It’s sort of like making life paths going forward instead of backwards. So you’d be gifted and then do a stint as an artisan and then as a swordsman and then as a tactician and cap out as a statesman. Maybe compendium class cards with 3 moves apiece that you advance through…
Marshall Miller: Well, in IK, you’re defined exclusively by your Archetype+Careers. So I was thinking the Careers would be special versions of Compendium Classes, maybe with ~6 advanced moves. The goal behind this would be a hack that removes much of the need for the constant “new playbooks,” and instead focuses on the archetypes.
Regular compendium classes would still exist for the fiction-driven stuff (When you slay a dragon; When you drink of the fountain of youth; When you stand in defense of a small village; etc.).
when IK is mentioned my attention spikes up 🙂
On one hand I don’t really see the point of keeping the Archetype+Carreer structure.
I never played the new IK, I only have the old d20 books, so maybe I’m missing something awesome about it … but what draws me toward the IK setting is this:
– uber cool stereotypes unique to that setting.
say, the goblin Gobbler, the trollkin Fell Caller, the human Warcaster, the elven Archanomage, the Ouroboros druids…
– Mechanika … meaning, a scientific and device-oriented approach to magic and technology … to me this is very steampunky, very cool
To represent the IK world I would use the AW approach rathern then the DW approach.
I mean… a very individualistic gameplay, instead of a group-centric one.
This way you can have a Khadoran patriot play his own story, while on the other side of the table a Cryxian necrotechnician raids the coast on a pirate ship, etc.
But that is just me 😉
Alessandro Piroddi: Well, there’s certainly material to recreate IK, but I’m less interested in the IP of IK, and more interested in the Archetype + Careers idea. I’ll be using a different setting, I just like the role+specialty idea and am trying to figure out how best to *W it.
ok 🙂
I think Archetype + Careers approach has a lot of potential. I’m also enamoured by the Adventuring Company rules too which gel so nicely with Archetype + Careers. Companies generally require all the PCs in a group to be a particular Archetype or to share one particular career, and give the company benefits like a university stipend, a hideout or a pirate ship.
Oliver Granger: I’m not that familiar with IK. Adventuring company?
http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-5-16-2012
“Foremost among these are the optional new rules for Adventuring Companies, which help the Game Master plot his campaign and encourage his players to create characters whose skills and abilities complement one another. Adventuring Companies give the players a coherent identity as a group whether they are intrepid investigators or members of a mercenary charter. By limiting the careers and races available within an Adventuring Company, the characters gain some additional benefits related to the theme of the company. As I said, the use of Adventuring Companies is totally optional, but it’s an excellent tool to help shape the kind of game the Game Master has in mind for his campaign.”
http://gsa.thegamernation.org/2013/01/26/its-a-group-thing/
Pirates of the Broken Coast
The characters are the ranking officers of a small frigate. They may be actual pirates, legitimate privateers in the service of one of the Iron Kingdoms, or even in the employ of the Cryxian Pirate Fleet.
Requirements: All characters must choose at least one of these careers: Cutthroat, Explorer, Military Officer, Pirate, or Thief.
Benefits: The adventuring company begins with a small ship, crewed by “unwashed sea dogs” The player designated as Captain gets the Natural Leader ability for free. All Members of the company get the Hit the Deck! ability for free.
Oliver Granger: Thanks.
Well, I’m about halfway through with the four archetypes (I’m mostly cribbing from the Core Classes), so yay! The Gifted will be closer to the Mage than the Wizard, since I’m not traditionally one for Vancian spellcasting, but I’m sure ya’ll can figure it out when/if you care.
I don’t think my Careers will tack 1-to-1 with the IK versions, since I won’t be using their IP, but it’ll be the same idea. I’ll post stuff when I have stuff.
/sub