Ironsworn G+ Archive

I've updated the Ironsworn sticky post ( https://plus.google.com/+ShawnTomkin/posts/HizDvRjQcoY ) with some community links. Google apparently has plans to start winding down G+ as soon as later this month, and I hope you'll consider joining me at one of these destinations: Reddit : https://www.reddit.com/r/Ironsworn/ Discord : https://discord.gg/8fpWH6J Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/groups/328279421036397/ The Discord group is friendly and active, and it's the place to be if you want to get involved in early playtests and previews. Meanwhile, the Ironsworn subreddit is growing, and the general Reddit RPG community ( https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/ is a great destination for tabletop RPG discussions and news. At this stage, I have decided against creating a MeWe community, but you'll find me lurking there as Shawn Tomkin. Feel free to tag me in any Ironsworn-related discussions. You can also follow on twitter: https://twitter.com/ShawnTomkin I'll be here till t...

A shortish post about basic probabilities in Ironsworn. TL;DR - you always have at least a 50% chance of some kind of success. If you want to meta-game, and can't use your best stats, make moves to build momentum. At the end I talk briefly about the "fail forward" principle. If your fiction suggests sub-optimal moves, take it! Failure is definitely the most interesting way to drive the fiction forward (and especially, especially in solo campaigns). https://phophosolo.home.blog/2019/01/10/basic-probability-in-ironsworn/

Here is my Delve playtest with thanks to Shawn Tomkin . Wolfcrag Tunnel :- Domain : Cavern . Theme : Haunted . Leela and Kodroth head into large opening in Mountain tentatively . DELVE THE DEPTHS : WEAK HIT. 2 PROGRESS - REVEAL A DANGER! The large opening gets tighter and deeper into the Mountain . The cave walls get wetter as they descend.They come to a dead end with a large pool of water . Leela enters the water and finds an opening . They would have to swim underwater to continue . FACE DANGER : STRONG HIT - MOMENTUM +1 Leela holds her breath and swims , feeling her way - Kodroth in tow . After 80 yards she reaches other side and leaves the water .The narrow passage opens to a large chamber , Skulls and bone scattered to the side . The remnants of a battle of some sort . Leela and kodroth continue towards the exit ahead . DELVE THE DEPTHS : MISS The floor begins to crack underneath her , some of the large stones begin to fall . She runs tripping over , scrambling on all fours . The ...

Face to face with an Elder Beast Harrow Spider, Branwhyn and the Valknut strive to rescue the Ironlanders that have been taken by the spiders. 23 - Devle the Depths - Part 2 Whew, this one took a while to get finished, mostly due to the holidays. Also, this will be the last closeup of a spider for a long time, I promise. https://drive.google.com/open?id=162mzmBA9vD0kc9iwWFLVYW53LOT7jFwi

Solo campaign - A Thrall of Lostwater Kilda's quests to break the yoke of thralldom, and defeat the sea raiders who keep the island of Lostwater in check, continues. This latest scene, following on from earlier ones, is framed as a scene challenge . I feel a future comment post about this. Kilda and an ally, the aged herbalist Rhian, try to keep the sojourning sea raiders sick with plants and fungi from around the island. And Kilda finds that her master's son, Vigo, is infatuated with her. But attempting to use this information for leverage has unforeseen consequences... http://phophosolo.home.blog/2019/01/07/a-thrall-of-lostwater-x/

In Sickness and in Health Part 6 Leela surveyed the woodland . It seemed eery , the wood decayed almost no life at all .There were dead leaves covering the ground , perhaps there were grubs or worms she thought .As Leela searched for food the leaves behind her began to move almost following her . Leela felt as though she was being watched , she turned around .The leaves swirled , making a circle around them . Kodroth's fur began to stick up like static , he was snarling - showing teeth . She could see red glowing eyes . She knew something was wrong and drew her sword . ENTER THE FRAY - WEAK HIT The Marsh Rats launched at her with great speed . Leela stumbles batting them away with her sword . Kodroth pounces at the huge rats . Grabbing them in his jaws and slinging them away trying to protect Leela . STRIKE - STRONG HIT Leela swings with her sword , striking one across the neck . His eyes go from red to black cold as his body twitches on the floor . She spins and slashes at anothe...

After having such a good experience playing Ironsworn solo, I played a new adventure with my sister to try out the co-op mode. It was just as fun this way. Used Roll20 and was disappointed to see that there is no official sheet, but the built in description area works well in a pinch. I played as Morell Odin, an old Warden of the Circle of Stormhall, who seeks to free his people from the oppressive Fanir of the Stone. My sister played as Lagartha Shattershield, who sought to do the same. We began by traveling to a predetermined location in the dead of night to meet and discuss our next course of action. We had no idea the trouble we'd run into just trying to reach our meeting haha. Long story short, Morell had his shield taken by some of Fanir's men, he decided against killing them, for he was outnumbered and chose to live to fight another day. Unfortunately, that means I lost my Shield-bearer asset quite early in the adventure. Lagartha had a slightly easier time, but was ambu...

I swear an Iron Vow to play this after my current campaign wraps up. (Rolled a miss.) Guess that campaign might take longer than I think. Nevertheless! I shall not forsake.my Vow!

Hey guys! You know what goes surprisingly well with Ironsworn? Anime styled mecha action like Gundam, Aldnoah, Zoids, Patlabor, Mazinger, etc. Yup, that's right, I just found out how cool Ironsworn can be for giant robot combat adventures when modded for it. I want to tell you I'm actually working on a small hack for Ironsworn in order to adapt said media into the game, I present you my project: Mechasworn (I have to think of a better name...) WHY IRONSWORN? Mecha anime genre focuses in the personal struggles and relationships of the pilots and the bonds they make while leaving most of the action and danger to amazing and over the top giant robot scenes. In mecha anime, you fall in love with your enemies and fight your allies, you lose important people and swear to defeat your rivals, and you fight for your beliefs in a time and place where people might not care for them. Mecha genre is highly cinematic and emotional and I think Ironsworn is a system that perfectly captures tha...

Played my first session today. This game is WAY more fun than I had expected. Definitely continuing the saga. Also, not knowing what will happen is just as exciting and stressful as watching a television drama. Had no idea solo play could be like this. :) I played as Laura Whiteheart, an outcast Warden driven from her Circle for fear that she might be a Lycanthrope. Not knowing the truth as to whether or not she is (I imagined that in the Ironlands, Lycanthropy emerges in time with age), she swore to defeat the Great White Wolf, a creature of legend that many say if defeated, will eradicate the lycanthopic curse from all within the Ironlands. Her first task was to acquire a silver sword. She collected information that convinced her to travel to the outer edge of the Deep Wilds. There she met a man named Quinn, who said he would make her a silver weapon, but he'd need the materials from an old Elven Relic located in a ruin within the wilds. A few terrible Gather Information Moves ma...

I have nothing to do with this, I just saw it linked on Reddit, but it definitely needs to be here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=136&v=DBC9SsZcoV8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=136&v=DBC9SsZcoV8

In Sickness and in Health Part 4 Back at Leela's Camp :- Leela and Kodroth wake in the early morning . Leela puts out the fire and packs her supplys for the journey .Leela looks to the muddy plains , the orange Sun creeping over the horizon . With luck the weather would hold and they could make good time , but there was no time to waste . The guards from Greenwick were surely on their trail . They scouted for supply's but the land was too wet , nothing but reed and mud . With that they moved on , new lands would await them and new oppurtunity's . UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY - Strong Hit . The muddy path began to dry up , a better path emerged . Kodroth had a knack of finding the easy route , Leela adored him for that . The days travel was swift , Leela felt hope in her heart . As the Sun came down they found a good dry spot near the sparse dead woodland and made camp . Leela and Kodroth snuggled near the fire , she knew she made the right decision . MEANWHILE - IS THE HUNTING PARTY...

In Sickness and in Health :- Part 3 FACE DANGER ! - Strong Hit. Leela sat peeking out the tent with Kodroth by her side . 2 Nightguard were on patrol this night but were pre occupied talking and jesting . Leela waited for their lit torches to light her tent and then fade behind . Leela calmly sneaked out the tent , Kodroth by her side . She used neighbouring tents to keep to the shadows . She reached the edge of the village without looking back and calmly and quietly kept walking . When she finally reached a safe distance she stopped and turned around . The village flickered softly by the Nightguards torches . She felt a sense of betrayal in her chest , a tight anxious feeling . But she had to move and fast . Come morning the Nightguard would be hunting her down ! UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY - Weak Hit. -1 Supply Leela and Kodroth her Wolf headed through the Flooded Lands . It was dark muddy and sodden , but somehow Kodroth was able to pick up a beaten path. UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY - Miss -1 Supp...

I was going to post my thoughts about combat in Ironsworn, but they got a little long, so I put them on my blog instead (apologies for the shameless self-promotion). I hope they're of interest to others. The TL;DR is this: I love Initiative, and I like Harm/Progress. I'm scared of lethal weapons. I find it a little hard to break out of a linear combat cycle for my character, but it might be that my style needs work. Balancing initiative, resources and the desperate desire to make Progress is something I should improve. I should probably point out, if it's not previously been made obvious, that I am very much from the narrativist camp of RPG design. This probably colours my opinion of structured narrative scenes like combat. https://phophosolo.home.blog/2019/01/02/combat-in-ironsworn/

My (enthusiastic) review of Ironsworn RPG in italian. Now I have to learn hypnotism to put my kids to bed early and play some Co-op with my wife... https://danipenn.wordpress.com/2018/12/31/ironsworn-un-gdr-che-funziona-anche-senza-master/

Kilda's vows to rid Lostwater of Talan and the raiders continue in the latest three parts of A Thrall of Lostwater. The narrative is a little slower than perhaps it ought to be - this is closer to long form fiction with the occasional interceding mechanic than to an actual play. Nonetheless I'm having a blast (and we may get some actual action soon). Enormous kudos for the Journeying moves. I had a lot of fun with these (shouldn't have planned things out in advance, but I'm glad I did in the end). http://phophosolo.home.blog/2018/12/24/a-thrall-of-lostwater-v/

Happy holidays folks! Interacting with an awesome community has been a highlight of my 2018 for sure. Thanks so much for your support! There's more Ironsworn on the way in 2019, and I hope you'll join me as the journey continues.

Sometimes, I get so much into a story that I begin predicting some of its plot twists or its outline. When I do that, the story eventually loses its flavor, because I know how it will end. I basically railroad myself. I guess the solution to this is tp trust the dice, the oracle and my imagination, to let myself be surprised, and to stop predicting stuff. Does anyone have the same problem ?

Came to this game following a recommendation on my favourite play-by-post hub, and I am totally hooked. A brilliantly balanced system that appeals to my desire for narrative rich play that's meaningful in solo mode. With that in mind, I've started a solo campaign in blog format at phophosolo.home.blog, which I'd be honoured to let you check out. http://phophosolo.home.blog/

My thoughts about elements of Ironsworn mechanics. (In Polish) http://ifrytrpg.blogspot.com/2018/12/ironsworn-spojrzenie-po-roku.html

In Sickness and in Health :- Part 2 The Settlement of Greenwick Before my Husband left Greenwick he spoke of the Hinterlands . A rich forrested area teaming with life during the warmer months , yet cold and arrid during winter .We were hardened , we could deal with harsh winters , and with plenty of game to hunt and protection from invaders from the high ground , surely it was a better place to settle than the harsh flooded plains . I will head North , my Husband will be there somewhere , I just have to find him somehow . I will sneak away from the Settlement .... Tonight! Settlement Escape:- Our home was not much . A large tent like structure made with animal hides and local timber , but it was warm , dry and our home, yet here i was preparing to leave ! Still , with my Husband in the Hinterlands and my son in the next life , it was just me and Kodroth . Kodroth was a pup , when Nadira found him on a hunt . He was near death , shivering , pathetic , abandoned by his ...

How can I represent my character resting in a community for an extended period of time ? My character has just gone out of a very perilous fight, which has left him wounded, shaken, maimed, with -6 momentum, +0 health, +0 spirit, and +1 supply. In a word, he's probably going to need to rest for a while before adventuring again. However, the Sojourn move doesn't seem to be enough. I need to represent a month, or several months, of recovery ; he won't go in the wild again until he has a positive momentum and at least +3 health, spirit and supply. How can I represent this, mechanically ? Roll Sojourn multiple times ? Or just roll once and accept that trouble finds me again, still in a poor state ? Heal, Resupply and Secure Advantages until he is well again ? Do an ellipse in the narration and come back "one month later" with his stats arbitrarily set to adventuring values ?

Started my campaign tonight , so far created a character and a background . I thought I would share it . Campaign : In Sickness and in Health Leela Beltran 2 months have passed since my husband left . The village is now in turmoil , sickness spreads like wildfire , my son has passed , our village leader ...Gone! There is in-fighting amongst the strong familys over new leadership for the village which is creating great tension amongst us all . Some village elders believe witchcraft or sorcery is to blame for the sickness and are looking at some of the prominent women in the village to blame . A guilty charge of treason is death!The paranoia in the village is so high , and our leader dead , its become mob rule . My husband left to find new fertile lands , untainted by this scourge , so that the village could move on . He took many great fellow warriors with him . I must find him , tell him of his sons fate , before I am next accused . I have been getting strang...

Here's a technique to pace the threats inherent to a journey into the wilds. If you are leaving a settled place and heading into perilous lands, you can use your journey progress track as guide to the ranks of the threats you will face. The further you delve, the greater the danger. The amount of progress you've marked on your journey sets the rank of your foes and the severity of the outcome for failure (see the illustration, attached). 0-3: Dangerous 4-7: Formidable 8-0: Extreme For example, I leave a village and head off for the deep woods. On my second journey roll, on the outskirts of the woods, I score a miss. I decide I encounter a fast-moving river that I must ford. I am at 2 progress, so this will be a dangerous threat. I Face Danger to get across, but score a miss. Per the rank of the threat, I suffer 2 harm as I loose my footing and get bashed against some rocks in the freezing water. A few segments of my journey later, I am now deep in the wilds with 8 progress. Unf...

Guys, I was thinking about how to adapt Pokemon to Ironsworn. I almost don't have time to plan much hacks (including some 7th Sea sorcery conversions I'm working on), and I want some help and insight from your part. With this hack, I would have to do away with some concepts and moves, such as Health for the Trainer, changing some moves related to Spirit, and reworking or eliminating the physical confrontation moves. Now, Paths would represent training styles (Like Ace Trainer, Breeder, Lass), Rituals could be reworked into Training Methods. Now, I don't think it's a good idea to make every single Pokemon its own companion asset, and I'm thinking how to tackle that one. My idea is making Type Assets, as in Fairy, Rock, Fighting, etc, and then give those tags with mechanical advantages and disadvantages (Like in other PBTA games) to represent the Pokemon of your team. Type Assets would represent the broad and common abilities of certain types, and tags the more specif...

If you're facing off against Goliath, it's time to bring out the big guns. Credit to Liam Moher for the inspiration on this one. (Note: based on my googling, slings are actually pretty devastating weapons for a skilled warrior). Work-in-progress, so feedback welcome. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Fz6_AF8TOPcN4Pcx-wxILeiJG-jUvg9s Icon courtesy of Delapouite under CC BY 3.0 ( https://game-icons.net/delapouite/originals/sling.html ). https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Fz6_AF8TOPcN4Pcx-wxILeiJG-jUvg9s

If you like the idea of taking your character on a quest for redemption, here's an asset I'd like to include in volume 3. You may only add this to your character once you have Forsaken a Vow, so it's not accessible for starting characters. Your reputation as an oath-breaker and your own self-doubts will add hardship to your struggles, so this asset counts as a debility. It will reduce your max momentum and reset. But, there's a big reward at the end of your quest. Work-in-progress, so feedback is welcome. Icon courtesy of Lorc under CC BY 3.0 ( https://game-icons.net/lorc/originals/shattered-sword.html ) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1x6hNp2UOoQU9mLkSNR5PXwfQmPcS3WWF

Did anyone create some more generic fantasy assets (I’m thinking spells and the like) that could be useful for playing Ironsworn in a less grim and more standard fantasy setting? My players are loving the system and I’m considering extending it to our other group, where I think generic fantasy would be more in line with their wishes.

Q) Is there a zip download of all the PDFs? Would be handy. Went to https://www.ironswornrpg.com/downloads and ctrl+clicked 12 times, not too bad.

Session two of my as yet unnamed solo campaign. What a ride! I thought I could squeeze in more gameplay this time but the oracle seems to have a really firm idea of the pacing it wants, and when the fiction gets, like, good-good, it honestly exhausts me. In a good way! This session is brought to you by hours and hours of Danheim Viking radio, 'The Lay of Thrym' by Tyr, and 'Where Owls Know My Name' by Rivers of Nihil. Highly recommended for your own solo play!