Hi there!
Hi there! I discovered Ironsworn while looking for GM-less systems and decided to give it a try last night. I played solo, and I was really impressed with how well it prompts you into assembling a a really engaging narrative with both the moves and the many prompts.
I do have a couple of questions/concerns, though. In every battle I had, I ended up in a situation where I had done enough harm to fill up the enemy's progress track, but then got stuck getting weak hit after weak hit on the clash move. So, I kept doing harm that meant nothing, and taking even more harm, and it took me forever to end the fight because I struggled to get a strong hit, despite my + 2 Iron. It also made my Sunderer Asset feel kind of useless, as I never had any need for additional damage, and constantly found myself losing momentum.
Outside of Battle, I found I either failed or got weak hits on most of my Journey rolls, and started running really low on all my tracks about halfway through the adventure. I was on an expedition through the Shattered Wastes, so narratively it didn't make sense to ever use the Sojourn move, and the Make Camp move didn't really allow me to recover enough resources before my next failure.
Finally, I "completed" two Iron Vows over the course of the adventure, but missed the actual rolls for both of them. Narratively, it made more sense to be forced to abandon them than to upgrade them, so I ended up coming out of the whole adventure Maimed, Marked, low on all my supplies, and without a single experience point to show for it.
Overall, it was a satisfyingly tragic tale of a failed expedition, but I'd like to know if I should have been playing differently or doing things I wasn't doing in order to have less bleak outcomes.
I do have a couple of questions/concerns, though. In every battle I had, I ended up in a situation where I had done enough harm to fill up the enemy's progress track, but then got stuck getting weak hit after weak hit on the clash move. So, I kept doing harm that meant nothing, and taking even more harm, and it took me forever to end the fight because I struggled to get a strong hit, despite my + 2 Iron. It also made my Sunderer Asset feel kind of useless, as I never had any need for additional damage, and constantly found myself losing momentum.
Outside of Battle, I found I either failed or got weak hits on most of my Journey rolls, and started running really low on all my tracks about halfway through the adventure. I was on an expedition through the Shattered Wastes, so narratively it didn't make sense to ever use the Sojourn move, and the Make Camp move didn't really allow me to recover enough resources before my next failure.
Finally, I "completed" two Iron Vows over the course of the adventure, but missed the actual rolls for both of them. Narratively, it made more sense to be forced to abandon them than to upgrade them, so I ended up coming out of the whole adventure Maimed, Marked, low on all my supplies, and without a single experience point to show for it.
Overall, it was a satisfyingly tragic tale of a failed expedition, but I'd like to know if I should have been playing differently or doing things I wasn't doing in order to have less bleak outcomes.
(Also, I kept a journal of the whole adventure. Is that something anyone would be interested in reading?)
ReplyDeleteWell, first of all, when on the defense you don't have to use Clash. You can instead use Face Danger or sometimes Secure an Advantage, which have lower costs for failure and with enough tinkering should allow you to roll your +3 stat. On a strong hit, you regain initiative. Also remember that you regain initiative on strong hits for the suffer moves as well (Endure Harm and Endure Stress/Test Your Spirit)
ReplyDeleteThe second thing I would note is that the Shattered Wastes itself is, appropriately, responsible for your outcome. Sojourn is very important for managing your resourves and so not being able to access it is definitely a major disadvantage.
Hi, Erik McKenny, Welcome to the community. Short answer, Ironsworn is designed to create some relatively harsh narratives, but not quite as bleak as you experienced. Let's break it down a bit...
ReplyDeleteFor End the Fight, a couple of things to keep in mind. One is that any move that results in a strong hit gives you initiative, and can potentially be framed to allow you to End the Fight. Even Endure Harm or Endure Stress gives you initiative on a strong hit, which is pretty likely if your tracks aren't too depleted.
Secondly, remember that Clash is not your only option when you are being attacked. You can Face Danger, for example, which is less risky than Clash. If you've got a shield, or are parrying, you can still frame your action as using your +2 Iron, or you might even be able to leverage your +3 stat. This is a good option to take, particularly when you have filled the progress track and you are just looking to get back initiative.
Also, part of what the math in Ironsworn does is encourage you to End the Fight before it's a sure thing. If you've got +6 or +7 and scored a strong hit, give some thought to whether it's the right time to End the Fight instead of taking a chance waiting for another strong hit to come around. Heck, even +5 gives you a 64% chance of a hit. A weak hit with End the Fight is not a dire result, and is more narratively interesting than a strong hit. I tend to try to close things out whenever I''ve got a strong hit and I'm at +7 or better, sometimes even less depending on the situation.
Lastly, don't forget about Turn the Tide as an option to get a chance to gain back the initiative and setup a decisive move. The combo of Turn the Tide, Strike (or Compel), and End the Fight is one of my favorite things in the game.
For your travel, I'd say you were an unfortunate victim of where your story took you. The Shattered Wastes is implicitly sort of an "end game" area (to use a video game term) for experienced characters who have built up some assets and story potential to survive the journey. As you noted, you can't really justify a Sojourn there, which leaves you without much options once you start to mark debilities. The rules are structured to force characters to occasionally return to "civilized" areas, because doing so will help generate story.
If you return to the Shattered Wastes, make sure you've got some mechanical and narrative support. A guide might allow you to reduce the rank of the journey, for example. A couple of appropriate assets can give you a really powerful combo for journeys.
For the vows, can you give me a bit of detail on your progress rolls? I'm tempted to say you were just pretty unlucky. For example, if you've got +8 progress when you Fulfill Your Vow, you only have a 9% chance of failing outright. Failing twice under those circumstances would be .. err .. much less (I am bad at math).
And, yes! Please share your journal. We've got a Play Reports category here for that very thing. Perhaps first edit out those times when you called me a #$@&%! and wondered what the hell I was thinking when I made this #$@&%! game. :)
Ethan Uhlig I did not realize that Endure Harm could count as a Strong Hit to end the fight on. That probably would've actually saved me some trouble.
ReplyDeleteShawn Tomkin I didn't realize that I could win a fight on any Strong Hit, which would've saved me a lot of trouble and is pretty clever, actually. My bad on overlooking that.
ReplyDeleteFor my vows, the first one was a Troublesome vow involving some trapped miners. I rolled at just + 6 progress, so not the best chance of success, but it was a side thing I didn't really care about anyway. The died in a cave-in. The second one was my inciting Vow to explore the Wastes, which I made at + 8. I rolled double 8s! So I was forced to come up with a pretty terrible revelation for my character. It was a good ending for the story, though.
I'm not upset that my trip to the Shattered Wastes went so poorly. I just really liked the flavor and the quest prompt in the book. I was sorta envisioning a Mountains of Madness type thing anyway, so it was pretty fitting. Still, I appreciate the tips so that hopefully next time I can have a little more success.
Erik McKenny You may also wish to change out your dice set at this point. They may have been contaminated by that session. Best to be certain. ;)
ReplyDeleteNuke them from orbit. Only way to be sure.
ReplyDelete