I prefer a more urban/intrigue-based campaign than Ironsworn is currently set up for.

I prefer a more urban/intrigue-based campaign than Ironsworn is currently set up for. In order to do that, I felt the focus needed to shift away from journeys towards relationships. I wanted something that could emulate a slow-building Jane Austen-style courtship so I replaced the Bond mechanic with something closer to Undertaking a Journey and Reach Your Destination. I also tried to make the moves capable of modeling friendships and not just romance. The new mechanics engage with two new character types, Your Esteemed (the character you are trying to form a meaningful relationship with) and Your Rival (the character opposing you). Your Rival gets a progress track of their own (it indicates the strength of their relationship with Your Esteemed). If the Rival's track ever fills up completely, you must immediately succeed at Challenging your Rival to delay their bond from becoming permanent, forever destroying your chances.

This is the first time I’ve ever tried to hack an rpg and I'm not that experienced with the system so I'd love some feedback if you have any.

Comments

  1. Shawn TomkinAugust 17, 2018 at 9:26 PM

    Hi, Kiyomi McFarlane! I really like the idea of creating a progress track for important relationships, and having a rival is a cool idea. It's something I'd love to explore someday in a setting that's more focused on relationships and intrigue. I'm yoinking this for future thought.

    I would suggest that you have more of a narrative trigger for the initial setup move. Something like "Declare Your Intentions"? Then, you can separate the milestone move into it's own thing, and have some clear triggers for what you need to do to move the relationship forward. Think of the relationship moves structured more like Enter the Fray and the combat moves, instead of the simpler Undertake a Journey.

    The rival track I'd have to think about. Would be interesting to have it semi-autonomous, so it's not completely dependent on the outcome of your moves, but I can also see it working similarly to the countdown track in scene challenges.

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  2. Kiyomi McFarlaneAugust 17, 2018 at 10:53 PM

    Shawn Tomkin Yes, please yoink away! I'm sure you would do a much better job of what I'm trying to get at. I'll take a look at Enter the Fray. Thanks for the advice!

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