Just played my first game of Ironsworn (Solo).
Just played my first game of Ironsworn (Solo). Really, really enjoyed it! I decided to write it up as I was going - Story in one column and Game Mechanics in a second column so they fall alongside.
I've set this in Dark Ages Britain, in the year 999 and have based the style and setting on a novel by Poul anderson called "The Broken Sword" - it has vikings, a fading Faerie realm, old gods, Christian Britain.
The PDF can be found at https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/891807/Ironsworn_Story_001.pdf
I haven't got very far with the story in this first session, but I enjoyed it immensely so far, and found the Ironsworn rules to be incredibly useful for shaping the narrative and providing simple mechanisms to resolve conflicts.
First 4 pages are a bit of historical googling to get some basic info about Britain in the year 999 and a map, followed by some ideas for tweaking the World Truths to match my setting, then I did the character creation, the Inciting Incident and the first chapter of the story itself - which worked out really well from my point of view.
I wrote the story in the left-hand column and all the game-mechanics stuff in the right-hand column. I'd really like some feedback on it.. Have I gone too far off the main system ? Have I misinterpreted any of the rules ?
https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/891807/Ironsworn_Story_001.pdf
I've set this in Dark Ages Britain, in the year 999 and have based the style and setting on a novel by Poul anderson called "The Broken Sword" - it has vikings, a fading Faerie realm, old gods, Christian Britain.
The PDF can be found at https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/891807/Ironsworn_Story_001.pdf
I haven't got very far with the story in this first session, but I enjoyed it immensely so far, and found the Ironsworn rules to be incredibly useful for shaping the narrative and providing simple mechanisms to resolve conflicts.
First 4 pages are a bit of historical googling to get some basic info about Britain in the year 999 and a map, followed by some ideas for tweaking the World Truths to match my setting, then I did the character creation, the Inciting Incident and the first chapter of the story itself - which worked out really well from my point of view.
I wrote the story in the left-hand column and all the game-mechanics stuff in the right-hand column. I'd really like some feedback on it.. Have I gone too far off the main system ? Have I misinterpreted any of the rules ?
https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/891807/Ironsworn_Story_001.pdf
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xdgS8RQXFdlGrK9EEl_jHnZCn-IoGYFokd4m0cZWfqNjguloQcU71KS59ll7sQVsk53KlUx3XXqXSgTGcEfjQ1_yB5lRymJRIA=s0
ReplyDeleteMick Hand I've always been a fan of Poul Anderson; he wrote some the best science fiction stories of all time, starting when the genre was trying to move past its pulp beginnings through to the end of his life ('Starfarers' was one of his best novels, but not his last). However, I've never read any of his fantasy/historical stories; I didn't realize he had so many, and that they are VERY well reviewed.
ReplyDeleteI'll grab "The Broken Sword" today (it's available for Kindle), and I'll set aside some time tonight to read through your actual-play post; I love reading these now that Ironsworn has hit final release! Thanks for the heads-up!
Thanks for sharing! Love the sound of the setting and looking forward to reading.
ReplyDeleteThis is great so far. I like what you've done to adapt the setting; the small historical touches convey a lot of feel quite economically.
ReplyDeleteThe historical grounding adds a nice flourish to the story, and I like how the game mechanic commentary is indepth. Great start!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback - In retrospect, I shouldn’t have awarded him an asset so early in the story (the Ritual) so I’ll find a narrative penalty of some kind. I’m considering doing a flashback next to provide more info about Radka and why she might have refused to let Valgrym marry her daughter. I’m trying to walk the line between “telling a story” and “playing a game to find out”. Guess that’s the challenge for most of us.
ReplyDeleteDan Davis I remember being fascinated by his “Tau Zero”. Hope you enjoy Broken Sword, he wrote another similar fantasy “Three Hearts and Three Lions” which I remember enjoying 40 years ago, I may re-read that soon myself.
ReplyDeleteSecond Session. Still enjoying it, but it can be pretty brutal. Perhaps I should scale back to troublesome or dangerous encounters. https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/892944/Ironsworn_Story_002.pdf
ReplyDeletedb4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net - db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/892944/Ironsworn_Story_002.pdf?1534884634
Third Session. Grim and got grimmer. Didn't make many rolls tonight but failed every one! Still made for an interesting story somehow. https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/893562/Ironsworn_Story_003.pdf
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to know if all other Solo players have the same internal struggle between wanting to progress in a "planned" story and the downward spiral of bad rolls.
db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net - db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/112704/assets/893562/Ironsworn_Story_003.pdf?1535058035
Mick Hand Poor guy can't catch a break.
ReplyDeleteLon Sarver Chapter 4 (just posted) things are looking up for Valgrym!
ReplyDeleteWow, out of the frying and into the fire! I like how Ironsworn can throw huge unexpected spanners in your hero's story at any moment... it can be a wild ride but you just gotta hold on and see where it takes you!
ReplyDeleteRead session 1, looking forward to the rest.
ReplyDelete