r/Ironsworn

So I read this post the other day and it got me thinking, because I've never had one of my Ironsworn (or Starforged, Sundered Isles, etc.) character perish unexpectedly. Yes, my characters suffer, but never in the "I tried to do one simple quest but ended up getting torn apart by wild animals in my first session" kind of way.

But this isn't because I use an easier stat array, or tweak the moves, or even try that hard to avoid mechanical consequences on Pay the Price. It's because I use the game mechanics (totally RAW!) to deliberately create my desired experience.

So I wrote a blog about it.

>I'm going to define three typical modes of difficulty for Ironsworn: Action Adventure, Gritty Survival, and Prepare to Die. Each of these modes is built on different core assumptions.

>Action Adventure assumes that death is (mostly) off the table, that luck will bend in our favor, that there are helpful strangers around every corner, and that we are heroic adventurers who can defeat crowds of enemies without breaking a sweat**.**

>Gritty Survival assumes that death is usually on the table (but that it can be avoided with good decisions and a bit of luck), that most enemies don't want to risk their own lives fighting us without a good reason, that strangers will offer aid within reason, and that fighting is dangerous (so we should try finding another way to solve our problems).

>Prepare to Die assumes that death is always on the table (and no amount of careful planning can avoid it for long), that enemies will attack us without any care for their own safety, that strangers will leave us to our fate, and that the situation will always get worse.

>If we want an Action Adventure experience, but we play with Prepare to Die assumptions, we're going to have a bad time! Same as if we want a Gritty Survival experience, but our Action Adventure assumptions are making the game feel too easy.

And then I give you three examples of play, each covering the same scenario (a settlement is being menaced by a spooky necromancer in the woods!) but with different difficulty modes.

I hope this helps somebody else get the experience that they want out of Ironsworn! 🥰

Just curious what you all think we could get eventually. Ironsworn 2e? What would that look like?

What other worlds or settings would you want to see?

Just started playing this as a solo. On reflection, pretty sure I have been too punitive in my consequences, but curious how often your ironsworn don't make it. Mine went mad on session 3-4 during the expedition. I get it's fiction first, but I feel like I'm constantly having to come up with bad things happening rather than good. (My dice luck is famously bad - when I GM'd DND my players loved it)

My playthrough

Playing an explorer/slayer (In my head a survivalist who captures creatures for study). First Iron vow to travel to a planet to help a colleague (somewhat in a rush). (Roll Miss) Air filters faulty- Make a stop at a station on the way to replace. Get waylaid and complete a troublesome vow on the station -results in some reduction in conditions and extra days on station.

Start expedition - flurry of bad rolls means I can't progress and keep encountering perils and pay the price. Lose spirit and supply, get waylaid (- momentum), things in ship malfunction and require repair.

Eventually find unnatural looking star - related to background vow about balefire. Use it as springboard to hearten (miss)

Endure stress-miss

Face desolation miss

Go mad looking at unnatural star and perish

End

I just started playing Starforged, and being the freak that I am, I'm already making backup characters. I have an idea for a rigger who wants to find the perfect augment, but I think I'd need rarities to complete that background vow. Can I do that in Starforged?

I'm having some decision paralysis (thanks ADHD) so I'd like to ask about how other people like to play! This is in terms of solo only.

Do you record your narrative as simple notes or bulleted lists? A play-by-play of goals and their rolls? Long-form prose? A combination of the former or some other way? Do you throw caution (and/or continuity) to the wind and not record your games in any way?

Do you prefer analog or digital tools? A combination of the two? What are your favorite items/products/apps/etc and why?

Edit: Thank you for all the responses! I was honestly surprised to see so many mentions of Obsidian as I thought most preferred Iron Journal or similar for their digital games. I'll have to give that a try.

Hello everyone, it would mean the world to me if someone were to join me in playing Ironsworn so I can learn the ropes and hopefully then learn how to play the game by myself.

I've tried to play it alone but I just couldn't get it into it. So I thought why not play co-op? I don't know anyone personally who'd play with me so that's why I'm turning to reddit.

This game will be held over discord and my timezone is GMT+8. I'm thinking we can either vc or pbp, leaning more on pbp but I don't mind vc.

Hey, I was recently bemoaning a derth of pulpy space opera games and this one was suggested to me as something to look into. As someone who is interested in getting the players to more actively contribute to the game. I thought this might be an interesting game to try. The issue is that we are anywhere from 5-7 players at a time in a campaign and a solo based system feels like it might not scale that well to higher player counts.

So I am making a dungeon delving campaign and was wondering if delve had any moves or orcales that are really good for this type of thing mainly because Delve was made for dungeon Delving (I think).

TLDR: Is there any good moves or orcales in Delve for dungeon delving.

Has anyone ran an irl group using a shared online tool? Years ago I did some group sessions over roll20, is that still the best? Sundered isles if that makes the difference.

So whenever you attack something in the original Ironsworn you mark progress and I like this idea because it kind of acts like HP for the creature. A while ago while I was doing my first test campaign I thought of an idea that I don't know if it's in the original game or not and it probably isn't. Most items in Ironsworn are homebrew and I was thinking, "What if certain weapons or items marked more progress in battle?"

For example if you have nothing but your fists and you deal damage you would mark 1 progress but if you have a dagger you would mark +1 progress on top of the already marked progress.

Do you like this idea?