''Ironsworn'' is an indie role-playing game written and self-published by Shawn Tomkin. Its Ironlands setting is low fantasy, set in a rugged frontier. The game received the 2019 ENNIE Gold Winner Award for Best Free Game/Product. Rob Wieland for

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

named Ironsworn one of his favorite RPG products of 2022 and one of the best fantasy

tabletop role-playing games A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

for solo play.

System

Character creation

Player characters are built by allocating a specific number of points to the five different stats. These are edge, heart, iron, shadow, and wits. Apart from the starting stats, there are also trackers for health, spirit, and supply. Vows are the main mechanic by which a player can track progress and accomplish goals.

Gameplay

There are three ways to play ''Ironsworn''. * Guided: One or more players take the role of their characters, while a gamemaster (GM) moderates the session. * Co-Op: One or more players play together to overcome challenges and complete quests. No GM required. * Solo: One player portrays a lone character driven to fulfill vows in a dangerous world. Tomkin took inspiration from the Powered by the Apocalypse system, among other systems. The player narrates the story and then makes Moves when it makes narrative sense. If for instance, the player is about to enter combat, they can make the Enter the Fray move. Dice are rolled to determine if the move is a success or a failure. The player accumulates Momentum through succeeding at rolls or through narrative. Momentum can be used to improve the result of a die roll. Experience can be gained by completing vows and then spent upgrading existing assets or gaining new ones.

Supplements

There are three official supplements that have been published by Shawn Tomkin. * ''Ironsworn Lodestar'' (2018): A short reference guide that contains an oracle for character disposition and also alternative starting stats for easier and harder modes of play. * ''Ironsworn: Delve'' (2020): The first major expansion adds additional content to the game, including dungeon-crawling mechanics. * ''Ironsworn: Starforged'' (2022): Funded in a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign, this is a new core rulebook adapting the original ''Ironsworn'' system to a science fiction setting. Along with the new setting, there are also new rules, assets, moves, and oracles. A supplement for the Starforged system, ''Sundered Isles'', is currently in development. This supplement will focus on a sailing setting, and will require the core ''Ironsworn: Starforged'' rules to play.

References

External links