Iron Heroes

The Archer is the ranged weapon specialist, replacing D&D's Arcane Archer and Ranger classes. The class receives the best attack bonus in the game when using ranged weapons (advancing at 1.25/level, for a max of +25 at 20th level), though the class' base attack progression for melee weapons is poor; the class also receives a decent defense growth, though HP and skill increases are merely average. The class also receives an Aim Pool, which is gathered by spending actions targeting a single enemy; the tokens from this pool may be used to power the special abilities of the class. As such, the Archer excels against single, strong enemies. The class also gains a number of bonus feats that must be spent on archery feats (which the class also has excellent access to), allowing Archer characters to diversify their abilities and remain effective against any opponent.

The Armiger is a warrior with a special focus on the optimum use of armor. The class has excellent access to armor-related feats, and gains an Armor Pool to fuel several armor-related abilities that maximize the character's defenses or wear out the opposition. Armigers receive a few other abilities related to being simply tougher than everyone else, and being able to wear armor better than anyone. Armigers have good HP growth, though low skill access.

The Berserker is a strong melee fighter, generally the Iron Heroes equivalent of the D&D barbarian. The class gains a token pool called a Fury Pool, which may be replenished by taking damage, seeing allies fall before him, or yelling or beating on the character's shield. Fury tokens are mainly used to start and maintain various rage-style abilities, though the class receives a selection of other abilities that largely focus on overpowering the opposition. As a class that often takes damage, it has the best HP growth in the game and good BAB, in addition to good access to Power feats. However, Berserkers take significant penalties when using armor, have a low defense score, and do not gain many skill points. Furthermore, the class does have "natural armor": an impenetrable armor, which, at level 10, is equal to the best available medium armor (reducing damage by 1d6).

The Executioner class focuses on crippling a foe as well as killing him. The class gains an excellent Sneak Attack progression, along with an Execution Pool that allows the character to weaken opponents before killing them, or simply leave them incapacitated while the character focuses on more important opponents. Notable features are excellent access to any melee-oriented feats, and the unique ability to apply feats that normally are only usable with powerful weapons to any weapon. The class has access to skill groups related to stealth, and gains above average HP growth, along with average defense.

The Harrier is built around the use of speed and finesse in combat. Unlike most Iron Heroes classes, the Harrier does not gain access to a token pool. The major class ability is a bonus to attack, damage, and defense, usable only when moving. While a Harrier may not make use of a full attack action under most circumstances, other class abilities compensate for that particular handicap, eventually resulting in the ability to make a full attack while still gaining a normal move action. The class has the best progression of defense related feats in the game and above-average access to finesse feats, combined with average HP and skills.

The Hunter's abilities are focused on tactical combat within a group, making use of the battlefield to confound enemies and aid the coordination of allies. The primary ability of the Hunter is the ability to transfer tokens from its own pool to token pools of allies, allowing them to attack at their best for much longer. The class gains a number of other abilities that are focused on teamwork and terrain use. Hunters receive access to a number of tactically-oriented feats, along with above-average progression in HP, skills, and defense.

The Man-at-Arms has no real class abilities; instead, the class gains a large number of bonus feats, much like the Fighter class in D&D. However, the Man-at-Arms differs from the D&D fighter in several important ways. The class gains good access to all feat types, allowing a character to advance in any direction that the player chooses. For flexibility, Men-at-Arms also gain access to "Wildcard" feats, which the character may swap out each day for another feat, allowing a high-level Man-at-Arms to gain decent proficiency in whatever type of feat is best for the situation in only a few rounds. The Man-at-Arms is the only class with the freedom to choose its skill groups upon creation.

The Thief is a rough equivalent to the D&D Rogue. The class is similar to the harrier as a speedy combatant but does not gain a token pool. However, the class gains the most skills in the game, access to more skill groups than any other class, and a higher cap on skill ranks. Thief characters may create specialized alternate personas, gaining bonuses to Bluff and Disguise checks while using these specific disguises. The class does gain access to a handful of combat-related abilities revolving around stealth, along with a medium Sneak Attack progression (capping at 7d6). The HP progression is moderate, and the defense progression is the better of the two progressions used in the game.

The Weaponmaster is precisely what the name suggests - a master of a single specialized weapon. The class gains tokens against individual enemies by successfully attacking them, and may spend the tokens gained on certain special maneuvers. The Weaponmaster may choose a single chosen category of feats to specialize in and another category to receive good access to, allowing the player to specialize in any particular weapon. The specialized weapon is used with a base attack bonus similar to the Archer; other weapons are used with a lower base attack bonus.

The Arcanist was the only class in Iron Heroes capable of using magic prior to the release of the Iron Heroes Player's Companion. Most spells are powered by a mana pool, which is a token pool that only refills after a night's rest. However, the class does gain access to some powerful magical abilities that can be used freely, as well as the ability to make pacts with otherworldly powers in return for bonuses. True Sorcery, a book of d20 skill-based magic produced by Green Ronin Publishing, has a section devoted to using the book in Iron Heroes, and substantially expands and modifies the Arcanist class.

The Dedicate is a new class introduced in the Iron Heroes Player's Companion. This class follows the archetype of the core Dungeons & Dragons paladin: a warrior with a very strong sense of commitment and focus. The Dedicate is the only class with an excellent Base Defense Bonus progression, which makes up for their lower HP generation. The Dedicate has good access to a weapon-based feat mastery as well as good access to the Defense mastery, with an average access to the Lore feat mastery.

The Myrmidon is a new class introduced in the Iron Heroes Player's Companion. This class represents ruthlessly efficient fighters that take advantage of whatever opportunity he or she can find on the battlefield. The Myrmidon has many combat abilities that focus on creating or taking advantage of opportunities on the battlefield. They gain good access to the Tactics feat mastery, and can have good access to a small list of other feat masteries. They can also choose average access to any feat category of their choice. This flexibility in feat selection is second only to the Man-At-Arms.

The Spiritualist is a new magic-using class introduced in the Iron Heroes Player's Companion. Unlike the Arcanist, who draws mana himself and shapes his own spells, the Spiritualist makes pacts with otherworldly creatures to create their magic effects. The Spiritualist's magic ability is based on a Pact token pool, and their magic is broken down into 18 different Rituals, instead of the traditional schools of magic.