Blood and Bewitchment in the City of Bodysnatchers

[Superfluous Crow]

I think I should be able to join up too. PST is GMT-8, so it would be 9 hours later in GMT+1, so 10:30 PM. As long as it is during the summer vacation I should be able to pull this off.

I was thinking of playing a knifewielding "fleshy", but that might be difficult if we can't begin with grafts (unless we can work around that). The basic concept was a human trying to get rid of his humanity, by basically grafting himself to the extent of becoming something else. The ditching humanity part might also get him involved in some nefarious things. I'm thinking he'd have levels in executioner.

Second concept would be a Jatayi archer. Possibly lost in the wastes after a storm, and turned up at the gates of Maccelaria where he later got himself arrested for tombrobbing (not for valuables, of course, being a jatayi).  

Witch/gunslinger sounds pretty damn cool though... And somebody should probably make a shade concept. Stole the body of a local crime lord?
I'm not set on anything yet, basically.

Very sweet slang by the way.

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Cataclysmic Crow]I was thinking of playing a knifewielding "fleshy", but that might be difficult if we can't begin with grafts (unless we can work around that). The basic concept was a human trying to get rid of his humanity, by basically grafting himself to the extent of becoming something else. The ditching humanity part might also get him involved in some nefarious things. I'm thinking he'd have levels in executioner.[/blockquote]I love this concept (in fact, if I was playing a character, this is basically what I'd play).

One way to incorporate starting grafts without skewing the balance would be to "count" some of your starting attributes as grafts.  So an 18 or 16 Strength could be the result of brawn grafts or stolen arms instead of natural strength, for example.

Here's another option:

Trait: Fleshy (Physical)
You are a graftpunk, swapping your own body parts for alien flesh.
Mechanics: You begin with one free graft worth 1000 obeloi or less.  

I will get on top of grafts very soon.  In the meantime, if anyone wants to invent a graft themselves, just run it past me and if I think it's basically balanced then it'll be OK.

One of the first adventures I'm planning may afford characters an opportunity to get some cheap grafts, incidentally...

[Nomadic]

Ok I'm in as long as the time remains around what you said. How much is our starting obeloi pool? Could you post the freely available parts of IH that you talked about so that I can get a feel for the differences between it and 3e standard?

I think I'm going to play a Ghilian gunslinger/witch with some loose connections to the house of crimson shadow (he's done some scavenging contracts for them and is on good terms with a few of their lower end leaders and members) unfortunately the last contract went bad as someone tried to steal what he scavenged and he was forced to shoot them. Unfortunately for him he didn't make them as dead as he'd have hoped and they made it back to the city. Doubly unfortunate it was that they had friends in high places and got him arrested for stealing "their" find.

Will need to see the witch and gunslinger progression (though I'll probably go either gunslinger 3/witch 1 or gunslinger 2/witch 2) but I'm definitely going for Cast Glyph Bullet: Expanded Mastery 3 and Craft Glyph Tattoo: Expanded Mastery 3. Will need to see how far up that chain I can get by level 4.

[Steerpike]

Some grafts:

Chitin Plates: Scavenged from the corpse of some monstrous insect, these plates are fused into your flesh, giving you a rigid exoskeleton.  This provides a Passive Defence Bonus without a check penalty, similar to a buckler; this stacks with a shield.
1000 obeloi (+1), 4,000 obeloi (+2), 9,000 obeloi (+3), 16,000 obeloi (+4), 25 0000 obeloi (+5), 36 000 obeloi (+6)

Squamous Skin: Your fragile skin is replaced with a thick layer of scales or other resilient hide.  This provides Damage Reduction and has no check penalty; this stacks with armour.
1000 obeloi (1/magic), 4,000 obeloi (1d2/magic), 9,000 obeloi (1d3/magic), 16,000 obeloi (1d3/magic), 25 0000 obeloi (1d6/magic), 36 000 obeloi (1d8/magic)

Fangs: Wrenched from the mouth of a dog, big cat, crocodile, or some toothy abomination, these fangs replace your regular teeth.  You gain a bite attack as a natural attack.
500 obeloi (1d2), 750 obeloi (1d3), 1000 obeloi (1d4), 3000 obeloi (1d6), 6000 obeloi (1d8)

Clawed Hand: One of your hands is replaced with that of a clawed beast of some description.  This provides you with a single natural Claw attack.
500 obeloi (1d2), 750 obeloi (1d3), 1000 obeloi (1d4), 3000 obeloi (1d6), 6000 obeloi (1d8)

Antitoxin Gland: Drawn from the innards of some venomous creature, this small organ can be discretely implanted and hooked up to the bloodstream.  It provides a bonus to Fortitude saves versus poisons.
500 obeloi (+1), 1000 obeloi (+2), 4000 obeloi (+3), 9000 obeloi (+4), 16000 obeloi (+5)

Great character concept Nomadic... this is shaping up to be quite a group!

[blockquote=Nomadic]Ok I'm in as long as the time remains around what you said. How much is our starting obeloi pool? Could you post the freely available parts of IH that you talked about so that I can get a feel for the differences between it and 3e standard?[/blockquote]I've been rethinking equipment a little bit, in light of Crow's desire to play a graftpunk and the possibility of gunfighters etc. Though you won't begin with any equipment, your equipment and funds will be returned to you if you escape from the Pulsetown Pits.  Your starting money pool is 2500 obeloi (this is quite a bit lower than D&D 3.5 would proscribe, but this is Iron Heroes, after all).

Incidentally, bullets are 1 obeloi for 10.

I will post the IH info very soon... it'll take a bit of time for me to get it formatted into a readable condition.  The best way would probably be to attach it as a text file in an email, since it's rather large to post on the forums.

Also, it should be noted that the Gunfighter variant of the Archer class automatically gets firearm proficiencies but doesn't get automatic proficiencies with other martial projectile weapons.

[Nomadic]

Some grafts:

Chitin Plates: Scavenged from the corpse of some monstrous insect, these plates are fused into your flesh, giving you a rigid exoskeleton.  This provides a Passive Defence Bonus without a check penalty, similar to a buckler; this stacks with a shield.
1000 obeloi (+1), 4,000 obeloi (+2), 9,000 obeloi (+3), 16,000 obeloi (+4), 25 0000 obeloi (+5), 36 000 obeloi (+6)

Squamous Skin: Your fragile skin is replaced with a thick layer of scales or other resilient hide.  This provides Damage Reduction and has no check penalty; this stacks with armour.
1000 obeloi (1/magic), 4,000 obeloi (1d2/magic), 9,000 obeloi (1d3/magic), 16,000 obeloi (1d3/magic), 25 0000 obeloi (1d6/magic), 36 000 obeloi (1d8/magic)

Fangs: Wrenched from the mouth of a dog, big cat, crocodile, or some toothy abomination, these fangs replace your regular teeth.  You gain a bite attack as a natural attack.
500 obeloi (1d2), 750 obeloi (1d3), 1000 obeloi (1d4), 3000 obeloi (1d6), 6000 obeloi (1d8)

Clawed Hand: One of your hands is replaced with that of a clawed beast of some description.  This provides you with a single natural Claw attack.
500 obeloi (1d2), 750 obeloi (1d3), 1000 obeloi (1d4), 3000 obeloi (1d6), 6000 obeloi (1d8)

Antitoxin Gland: Drawn from the innards of some venomous creature, this small organ can be discretely implanted and hooked up to the bloodstream.  It provides a bonus to Fortitude saves versus poisons.
500 obeloi (+1), 1000 obeloi (+2), 4000 obeloi (+3), 9000 obeloi (+4), 16000 obeloi (+5)

Great character concept Nomadic... this is shaping up to be quite a group!

So, could you tell me the answer to my questions (or are you yet unsure)?

[Steerpike]

Sorry, I edited my post - now with answers to your questions.

Man, formatting this thing is going to be PAINFUL.  I have a PDF of the handbook, but sorting out the open content from the closed content and making it readable is tricky.  I've been scouring the web for a wiki, but no dice... someone made an Arcana Evolved wiki, but no Iron Heroes wiki.

EDIT: I may have to do this in bits and pieces.  I`ll start with Traits, and then I`ll get the Gunfighter/Archer and Witch classes up.  Then I'll go for Feats, which are all OGL.

[Llum]

Can a Weapon Master select a ranged weapon as his Favored Weapon?

[Steerpike]

The Archer is essentially the Weapon Master for Projectile weapons, so no - if you read the Weapon Master text closely the abilities are all keyed to melee weapons and focus on things like leverage, feinting, etc.

[Steerpike]

I have the Traits document ready, but it took ages to format cleanly.  I may have to give people slightly unpolished-looking files in the future - otherwise it'd take hours to format everything.

[Steerpike]

Nomadic (and others), here are the two charts:

To create the Witch class, just take the Wizard and add on the Feat Masteries and Defense Bonuses of the Arcanist.

Also, if desired, Scribe Scroll can be swapped out for Craft Eldritch Tattoo!





GUNFIGHTER

Hit Die: 1d4+4/level

SKILL GROUPS

Gunfighters learn to fight on the run, and their long hours of practice with ranged weapons hone their senses to a fine edge. They gain access to the Agility, Athletics, and Perception skill groups and may purchase skills from other groups as normal. A Gunfighter needs good Spot and Listen skill ranks to notice enemies before they can draw too close. Agility and Athletics allow her to escape from dangerous situations or reach spots that offer excellent sniping opportunities.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Intelligence modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier

FEATS
Gunfighters focus on ranged combat and, as such, they gain excellent mastery with Projectile feats. They gain average mastery with Defense feats, as they learn to avoid blows and flee melee for a safe firing position. They gain some mastery in Finesse, too'"when they must fight in melee, they generally prefer light weapons that take advantage of their excellent agility.

CLASS FEATURES
The Gunfighter's class abilities revolve around access to the aim token pool. The aim pool represents a Gunfighter's genius at locking onto one target, taking careful aim, and firing a single dart with incredible precision. A skilled Gunfighter not only hits her target, she strikes him at the exact point she chooses.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Gunfighters are proficient with all simple weapons, all firearms, and light armor. As a Gunfighter, you trained to hit opponents from a distance. You studied melee combat only as a tactic of last resort.

Ranged Base Attack Bonus: Gunfighters focus much of their
training on firearms.  When using a pistol or long arm, use the ranged base attack bonus on the Gunfighter Class Features and Mastery table (see page 33). When armed with any other sort of weapon, use the normal base attack bonus. If you take levels of other classes, add the ranged base attack bonus to your other class' base attack bonus to determine your modifier when using projectile and thrown weapons. Add in the Gunfighter's normal base attack bonus for all other circumstances.

Aim Pool: At the start of your turn, you may designate a single opponent that you can see (a creature or object) as the target of your aim token pool. You earn 1 aim token against him if you spend a move action doing nothing but aiming at him. You earn 2 aim tokens if you spend a standard action doing nothing but aiming at him. You earn 4 aim tokens if you spend a full-round action drawing a bead on him, doing nothing but aiming. In addition, you automatically earn an additional aim token if your target did not move between your last action and your current one. You can take aim against a motionless enemy with ease. You gain this token at the start of your action. You spend aim tokens to power various Gunfighter class abilities, described below. The longer you aim, the better your shot. In other words, if you spend more aim tokens on an attack, it garners more powerful effects.

You keep building up aim tokens until you select a different opponent as the target for your aim pool. You can never have more tokens than 10 + your level in a pool at once. You lose any extra tokens you build up above this limit. At some point, additional aiming fails to improve your accuracy. When you select a new foe as your target, you lose the aim tokens you have built up and must start accruing them again. Aim tokens that go unspent upon a particular target grant you no special benefits; you must discard them and may begin accumulating new tokens against a different target. You cannot carry aim token pools against more than one target at the same time.

Action Spent Aim Tokens
Aiming Gained
Move 1
Standard 2
Full-round 4
Opponent remains still 1

Deadeye Shot: Each time you gain deadeye shot (at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels), you select a new ability from those listed below. Each deadeye shot ability costs a number of aim tokens to use. You spend aim tokens as a free action and apply the effects to the shots you take for the rest of your turn. You can complete this free action before taking a shot, but you cannot use aim tokens to benefit more than one deadeye shot ability in a given attack. Unless otherwise stated, a deadeye shot ability costs 1 aim token to use. You can spend more than one aim token on a single ability to gain its benefits multiple times. For example, if you spend 2 tokens on distant shot, you reduce the range penalty to your attacks by 4. You cannot reduce a penalty beyond 0 to turn it into a bonus. Where noted below, certain abilities are not available to use more than once in a single attack. Unless otherwise stated, a deadeye shot inflicts normal damage in addition to the effect described below. You can gain the benefits of deadeye shot abilities only against the target of your aim pool.

Vital Shot You can spend two aim tokens to add 1d6 to your damage roll. In the case of a critical hit, the extra damage is not multiplied. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack, but it can be combined with Deadly Shot or other abilities that deal additional damage.

Accurate Shot: You take aim at the smallest bit of an exposed foe, hitting him despite cover. Accurate shot reduces your opponent's defense bonus due to cover by 2 points for each token spent. You cannot reduce the defense bonus of an opponent who enjoys full cover from you if that cover blocks your line of sight to him.

Armor Piercing Shot: You take aim at a chink in your opponent's armor, hoping to overcome his defenses by hitting a poorly defended spot. Your shot inflicts a '"1 penalty to your foe's damage reduction for each token spent. However, you
cannot reduce the damage reduction below 0.

Deadly Shot: You target a particularly sensitive or vulnerable area on your opponent's body, such as the eyes. By spending 2 aim tokens, your attack grants you a bonus to damage equal to half your Dexterity bonus. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.

Disrupting Shot: You shoot an arrow at an opponent's hand, weapon, talon, or paw to disrupt his attacks. Rather than inflict damage, you cause him to suffer a '"1 penalty to his attacks until the end of his next action for each token spent, unless he succeeds in a Fortitude save (DC equal to your attack's result).

Distant Shot: Even at long range, your shots hit with uncanny accuracy. You reduce the range penalty to your attacks by 2 points per token spent.

Hamstring Shot: To use this ability, ready an action to fire at your target when he moves. If your readied attack hits, your opponent must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half your Gunfighter level + number of tokens spent on this shot) or move at half his normal speed until the end of his current action.
 
Unerring Shot: Before you resolve your attack, your opponent must attempt a Reflex save (DC 10 + half your Gunfighter level + number of tokens spent on this attack). If his save fails, he loses his active bonus to defense against your next shot. This ability does not apply to subsequent shots.

Bonus Feats: At 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels, you gain a bonus feat that must come from the Projectile feat category. Otherwise, you can spend this selection on any feat of your choice, provided that you meet its mastery requirements. Bonus feats are in addition to the feat a character gets at every even-numbered level.

Improved Aim Pool: You can now fill your aim pool faster than before, as you quickly assess a target and prepare to fire; see the table below for the improved token values for time spent aiming. Note that you can take a free action to aim only once per round.

Action Spent Aim Tokens
Aiming Gained
Free 1
Move 2
Standard 3
Full-round 4
Opponent remains still 2

Sniper Shot: Each time you gain sniper shot (at 11th, 13th, and 15th levels), you may select one of the abilities described below or one of the deadeye shot abilities above. You spend your aim tokens on sniper shots in the manner described for deadeye shot abilities. You may spend tokens on both a deadeye shot and sniper shot ability at the same time.

Improved Vital Shot: You can spend two aim tokens to add 2d6 to your damage roll. In the case of a critical hit, the extra damage is not multiplied. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack, but it can be combined with Deadly Shot or other abilities that deal additional damage.
 
Critical Shot: If you take careful aim against an opponent, you can make a deadly shot to his eyes, throat, or other vulnerable spot. With some luck, you can strike a foe dead in
one shot. Using this ability requires an expenditure of 8 aim tokens. Make a single attack as a full-round action. If your attack succeeds, you automatically cause a critical hit. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.

Daunting Shot: You fire an arrow that nicks a creature's ear, creases his skull, sticks directly in the center of his coat of arms, or otherwise demonstrates your uncanny accuracy. Your target must make a Will save (DC 10 + half your Gunfighter level + the number of aim tokens spent) or become shaken for 2d4 rounds. You cannot use this ability to impose a condition worse than 'shaken' upon a creature.

Flanked Shot: When your target is flanked or denied his active bonus to defense, you can inflict extra damage if you are within 30 feet of him. For every 2 aim tokens spent, your
attack causes +1d6 points of damage. Do not multiply this damage on a critical hit. Creatures immune to criticals are also immune to this ability.

Sundering Shot: You can shoot small items off a creature's body, cut belts, and destroy similar little items. By spending 4 aim tokens, you may make an attack against a single item carried by your target; the item must have a hardness of 2 or lower. Your shot suffers a '"4 penalty. On a success, you damage the item as normal. You can choose to damage an item directly, thus possibly destroying it, or sever a belt or pouch to knock it to the ground at the target's feet. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.

Volley Shot: You use your first shot to guide the rest of your attacks as part of a full-attack action. If your first arrow strikes home, the rest will almost invariably follow into the target. If it misses, your arrows hit nothing but air. Before making your attack, spend 4 aim tokens. Roll a single attack against your opponent as normal. For your iterative attacks (the extra attacks you gain from having a high base attack bonus), use the following method to determine whether they hit: Subtract 3 points from the first attack's result. This total is the result for your second arrow. Subtract another 3 (6 total) for the third arrow's result, and 3 more (9 total) for the fourth arrow's result. Use this method in place of rolling your attacks and using your iterative attack bonuses. When using a volley shot, you cannot employ feats that grant you additional attacks. You may use this ability only once on a given attack.

Vulnerable Shot: To use this ability, you must spend 2 aim tokens and ready a ranged attack for when your target suffers
damage from any other source. Your target loses his active bonus to defense against your readied attack. In addition, you inflict bonus damage equal to your Dexterity bonus. You may use vulnerable shot only once on a given attack.

Supreme Aim Pool: As with the improved aim pool ability, above, you gain even more tokens for spending actions to aim, as shown in the following table.
Action Spent Aim Tokens
Aiming Gained
Free 2
Move 4
Standard 6
Full-round 8
Opponent remains still 4

Killing Shot: Each time you gain a killing shot (at 17th and 19th levels), you can select one of the abilities described below or one of the deadeye or sniper shot abilities above. You spend aim tokens on killing shots in the manner described for deadeye shot abilities. You may spend tokens on a deadeye, sniper, and killing shot ability at the same time.

Death Shot: You put an arrow into a foe's eye, skewer his throat, or pierce his heart. Using this ability requires an initial expenditure of 8 aim tokens. Then you must spend additional tokens to establish this attack's Fortitude save Difficulty Class (DC 10 + half your Gunfighter level + number of additional tokens spent). Make a single ranged attack as a full-round action. If you hit and inflict damage, your target must succeed at the Fortitude save described above or immediately fall to '"1 hit points. This ability remains a favorite of snipers and others who can hide and observe a target for several minutes. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.

Improved Deadly Shot: By spending 2 aim tokens, you gain a bonus to damage equal to your Dexterity bonus on all your ranged attacks against your target. This bonus lasts until your next action. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.

Power Shot: You may spend 2 aim tokens to use your ranged weapon as a melee weapon against your chosen target. You threaten him if he is within your natural reach. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity for making ranged attacks against him while he is within your natural reach. You gain double your Strength bonus to damage on shots made in this manner if you wield a weapon that allows any Strength bonus to damage. You gain this benefit even if your bow normally has a cap on the bonus damage. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.

Ranged Disarm: You fire an arrow to knock a weapon from an opponent's hand. Spend 4 aim tokens and make a single attack as a standard action; your foe makes an opposed attack. If your result is higher, you knock his weapon to the ground in his current space. The target gains a +4 bonus if his weapon is two-handed. If his weapon is larger than yours, he gains an additional +4 bonus for each size category of difference between his weapon and yours. You do not gain a benefit if you wield a larger weapon. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.

Ranged Trip: As a normal attack, you may spend at least 4 aim tokens to attempt to trip a target. Resolve your attack as normal. If you hit and inflict damage, your target must succeed at a Reflex save (DC 10 + half your Gunfighter level + number
of tokens spent) or be knocked prone. He gains the benefits of being prone (and the drawbacks, if applicable) against the rest of your attacks on your action.

Legendary Shot: The legendary shot, gained at 20th level, is the stuff of epic tales. It is the ultimate expression of the Gunfighter's talents, and those who witness these demonstrations of supreme mastery rarely forget them. To attempt a legendary shot, you must spend 10 aim tokens before your attack. You then may fire at your chosen target with one of the following special benefits:
'¢ All of your shots for the rest of your action hit, as long as you have line of sight to your target. Do not roll to resolve your attacks.
'¢ Any shot that hits automatically inflicts maximum damage. Treat all damage dice rolled as maximum values.
'¢ You may take a single shot at an opponent who is out of your line of sight by banking and ricocheting shots. You suffer a '"4 penalty to all your attacks, and your opponent must have been in your line of sight on your previous action. This attack assumes that a clear, physical path exists between you and your target.
'¢ You may attack your target at up to double your weapon's maximum range without range penalties. Choose one benefit from the list above; you cannot spend tokens to gain more than one of them at the same time. You may combine a deadeye, sniper, or killing shot ability with a legendary shot.

[Steerpike]

Link for the Traits document... at first I was going to just attach it to private messages, but that proved problematic.

EDIT: Also added Automatic Languages to the races on pg 1.

Does anyone else other than Nomadic need a copy of the info from the Iron Heroes handbook?

[Nomadic]

Eareg Maar
Ghul Witch 1/Gunfighter 3
STR: 10 [+0]
DEX: 17 [+3]
CON: 16 [+3]
INT: 14 [+2]
WIS: 12 [+1]
CHA: 10 [+0]

HP:  37
BAB:  2
RBAB: 3
BDB:  3

Feat Mastery
Projectile: 3
Defense:    2
Lore:       2
Finesse:    1
Social:     1
Tactics:    1
Other:      0

Traits: Eidetic Memory
Feats: Beast Lore, Craft Eldritch Tattoo, Precise Shot, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Reload, Summon Familiar, Weapon Proficiency: Firearms
Special: Deadeye Shot: Distant Shot, Deadeye Shot: Vital Shot
Abilities: Light Sensitivity, Carnivorous, Darkvision 60ft, Immunity to disease, aging, poison, and death effects
Natural Weapons: Claws 1d3, Bite 1d4
Weapons: Revolver 2d6/x3, Range: 15 ft, Single Shot (6)
Armor: Leather 1d2/magic, Max Dex: +5, Check Penalty: 0
              Buckler +1 Passive, Check Penalty: -1

Known Spells:
>All 0th Level<
Color Spray
Identify
Magic Missile
Mount
Ray of Enfeeblement
Read Magic

Memorized Spells:
0th Level [3]: Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Flare
1st Level [1]: Color Spray

Tattoos
Identify x4
Magic Missile x4
Mount

Skills:
Concentration [con] - 2 - +5
Escape Artist [dex] - 5 - +8
Hide [dex] - 5 - +10
Listen [wis] - 5 - +7
Move Silently [dex] - 5 - +8
Ride [dex] - 7 - +10
Spot [wis] - 5 - +6
Survival [wis] - 3 - +4

Belongings:
Money: 175 obeloi

Items:
Grimoire               [3 lbs]
Revolver               [3 lbs]
Bullets x250           [? lbs]
Leather Armor          [15 lbs]
Buckler                [5 lbs]
Pearl of Power (lvl 1) [0 lbs]
Oil of Invisibility    [0 lbs]

General Supplies:
Backpack               [2 lbs]
Belt Pouch             [1/2 lb]
Explorer's Outfit      [Worn]
Map Case               [1/2 lb]
Parchment x10          [0 lbs]
Charcoal Pencil x3     [0 lbs]
Ink x2                 [0 lbs]
Silver Needle & Case   [1 lbs]
Tinderbox              [1 lb]
Tent                   [20 lb]
Dried Meat             [5 lbs]
Waterskin              [4 lb]

Total Weight: 60 lbs

Familiar: Owl (sharpmaw)

[Llum]

AC is replaced by Defense. It is the same thing.

Armor is a DR roll in a similar vein to GS.

Feat Master are for Mastery Feats (basically feat trees, where you need a specific mastery as a prerequisite for a feat)

Stats are point buy, characters start with 10 in each attribute. It's 1 point to raise an attribute by 1, 2 points after for 15 and higher and 4 points for 17 and higher IIRC.

As for how many points we start with, that would be up to Steerpike.

I have no idea about fort/ref/will.

[Steerpike]

Characters start with a 24 point by.

Feat Masteries are just as Llum described... basically, you can choose to beef up your feats instead of choosing new ones.  Like, take the Rapid Reload feat you took, for example:

RAPID RELOAD [PROJECTILE]
You are adept at reloading weapons that normally take precious moments to ready.

Base Mastery: 1
Benefit: Reduce the time required to reload a slow-loading projectile weapon to a free action. While you use the weapon,
it loses the slow-loading descriptor, allowing you to take advantage of special abilities and feats normally disallowed for slow-loading weapons.

Normal: Characters without this feat spend a move action to reload slow-loading projectile weapons.

Expanded Mastery: 3. If you have a ready-loading projectile weapon loaded and readied, you can attack with it on
a surprise round even if you are surprised'"you just shoot reflexively as an opponent approaches.

Expanded Mastery: 5. You can make attacks of opportunity with a ready-loading projectile weapon. You threaten an
area covered by your natural reach while you have the weapon out and ready to fire.

Your character's feat masteries are basically prerequisites... for example, if your character doesn't have Projectile Mastery 3, you couldn't get the expanded mastery 3 on Rapid Reload.

Your character should get one more feat, Nomadic.  Feats are far more common in IH: you get 2 to start, plus on at every even level.  Since you get your weapon proficiency free with your gunfighter levels and your craft tattoo/summon familiar abilities are imparted by your Witch level, you get an extra feat.

Saving throws work a little differently in IH:

SAVING THROWS
Iron Heroes uses three different saving throw types: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. Fortitude saves allow you to resist disease, poison, and similar threats. Reflex saves measure your ability to dodge powerful attacks, while Will saves indicate your mental toughness. For a more thorough discussion, see 'Saving Throws' in Chapter Eight: Combat.

A character in Iron Heroes has a base saving throw bonus in all three save categories equal to his level. Unlike other d20
games, Iron Heroes characters do not have weak or strong saves. On average, their base saves are much higher than normal, though they cannot boost them with magical items [this won't be quite as rigid in CE]. See the table on the next page for saving throw modifiers by level.



And here's the list of Armor and Shields (1gp = 1 obelus):

[Steerpike]

By the way, looks like a fantastic character, Nomadic - exactly the sort of hero (or "hero") I'd picture walking the Cadaverous Earth.

Apologies for the garbled stream of rules and stuff... I may have to restart this thread at some point with a more organized presentation of the rules info, after I copy over more sections.  Turns out complying with the OGL is tricky... we Canadians are notoriously lax about that sort of thing with regards to personal use, usually, but I appreciate not everyone on the boards might share our complacency towards piracy.