I look forward to writing up my first playtest - the adventure of young Hezekiah Edwards in mid-18th Century British...
I look forward to writing up my first playtest - the adventure of young Hezekiah Edwards in mid-18th Century British North America. The young man sets out to negotiate a new price on trade goods with the nearby Iroquois settlement but encounters a Huron war party - chaos ensues.
Just wanted to say that this a fine ruleset and really enjoy the mix of Oracles and narrative outcomes of the various Moves. Really evocative and, at least in my limited first run, led to an impressive solo session. Can’t wait to get back to Hezekiah.
One quick question for Shawn Tomkin - what is the default power level? Are early stage PCs pretty equipped for robust solo adventures or should I bump abilities a bit? Any thoughts from others who may have run solo adventurers?
Just wanted to say that this a fine ruleset and really enjoy the mix of Oracles and narrative outcomes of the various Moves. Really evocative and, at least in my limited first run, led to an impressive solo session. Can’t wait to get back to Hezekiah.
One quick question for Shawn Tomkin - what is the default power level? Are early stage PCs pretty equipped for robust solo adventures or should I bump abilities a bit? Any thoughts from others who may have run solo adventurers?
Hi, Bjorsa Brimrsson. Thanks for giving Ironsworn a look! A French-Indian War era play-through sounds really cool! Ironsworn was actually partly born out of a short story about dragon hunting in frontier American during that period.
ReplyDeleteGood question regarding default power level. Really, for solo plays, you have pretty decent control. Just keep an eye on the ranks for your challenges. Give yourself a troublesome or dangerous quest at the start for a satisfying resolution in a session or two. Keep in mind that taking on a formidable foe (or greater) in combat can be risky and be prepared to hightail it or find some other resolution if things go south. That said, you have quite a few mechanical and narrative relief valves to avoid a dire outcome if you like. Just keep in mind that the Endure Harm and Test your Spirit moves do have a non-zero chance of leading to character death if either of those tracks are at zero.
You're of course free to give your character more assets at the start to give yourself a bit more number-power and flexibility, but I find 3 to be the sweet spot. Characters are intended to be above-the-norm capable and heroic people.
Would love to see any detail on your adventures!
Shawn Tomkin thanks for the feedback. Yes, there’s not enough love for the 18th Century out there! I simply subbed Archer for ‘Marksman’ and went RaW (and realized later that I missed an opportunity to title it ‘Hawkeye’!j.
ReplyDeleteIn combat, I matched my PC with a Dangerous enemy (Raider felt right for what I had in mind) and, had the dice been working in Hezekiah’s favor (they were not), I believe the fight would’ve gone well. As it was, the resulting narrative was still satisfying and left the young adventurer with a harrowing tale to tell once (and if!) he makes it back to civilization.
Felt completely authentic and gives the PC some additional stakes from which to drive his arc.
That sounds awesome, Bjorsa Brimrsson.
ReplyDeleteI do have plans to release an asset pack for 15th-18th century-ish archetypes, weapons, etc. In the meanwhile, I'm pleased to see folks able to push it into various genres and eras just with some light skinning.