This page contains affiliate links.

Introduction

“You must take what is left of the book and go to Long Falls…along the coast to the southeast…it is the nearest Lighthouse of Manmaclir…there aren’t many of our scriptures left….” Blood was spilling out of Qamar’s mouth as he spoke. He pushed the partially chard book into Nest’s hands. “Keep it safe…you must swear the iron vow…”

With tears streaming down her face Nest grabbed the book and frantically looked around for a piece of iron. She finally found it in the form of a broken dagger in Qamar’s hand.

Grasping the broken dagger blade in her hand Nest whispered, “I swear I will bring this book safely to the lighthouse at Long Falls.” Her vow was punctuated by the blood dripping down her arm.

————————————————————

This is the first few lines of the story of Nest Vinter, a cleric of Manmaclir, who lives along the Ragged Coast of the Ironlands. She is an old D&D 5e character that I ported over to Ironsworn. She was the second character and campaign that I built and played in the Ironsworn system.

Ironsworn was first published in 2018 by Tomkins Press, since then they have published Ironsworn: Delve, Starforged, and The Sunder Islands all using similar mechanics. It is generally considered one of the best solo RPGs. When I was searching for a solo RPG to play it came up on nearly every list I found. On top of how it is highly regarded, the pdf of the first book is free.

Ironsworn is a dark fantasy, narrative-focused game where heroes complete vows (or quests) around the Ironlands. The mechanics are in the Powered by the Apocalypse family with a mix of other systems thrown in. Characters’ stories are told narratively and Moves are made when needed. There are a number of set moves which any character can take. They select their move, roll two d10s and a d6, add any modifiers and check the results. The d10s are the challenge dice and set the numbers which need to be beaten by the action die. There are three outcomes, Strong Hit, Weak Hit, and Miss. The outcomes of each then impact the narrative moving forward.

Ironsworn is my “spark” solo RPG. In addition to playing games I also like to look at birds. There is an idea in the birding world called “Spark Bird.” A spark bird is the bird that you saw which sparked your interest in looking at birds. For me, my spark bird is the Greater Prairie-Chicken. A bird which is native to where I grew up. This concept works for games as well. My spark RPG was D&D and my spark solo RPG was Ironsworn. I had tried Thousand Year Vampire and a handful of other solo RPGs before finding Ironsworn and I struggled with them. Coming from D&D I was too worried about the rules and didn’t understand the potential of solo RPGs. In fact, when I look at my old notes from that time, I find one or two sentence responses to prompts and no stories.

Ironsworn changed that and what really helped was the actual play podcast that Shawn Tomkin and his son did for Ironsworn. The creativity and freedom which comes from a solo RPG like Ironsworn got me hooked. Ironsworn is a great bridge game from traditional RPGs to solo RPGs. It has the narrative focus of a solo RPG but it also has enough crunchy bits to feel like you are being guided. Currently most of my solo gaming time goes into Ironsworn, one its supplements, or one of its reskins.

Gameplay Summary

Narrative over Mechanics

Ironsworn is a game and as such has mechanics and resources like any game would, but these mechanics and resources are all there to drive the narrative. The word narrative or some variation of it shows up on nearly every page of the rule book. The primary mechanic of the game, vows (which I talk about later), are essentially narrative engines which drive the game.

Your Truths

You start by defining the truths of your version of the Ironlands. This is where you set the parameters of your world and the internal logic. The book has provided eleven areas for you to flesh out before you begin. This ranges from why is the land called what it is to what level of magic is there. You can set the game wherever you like, follow the suggestions, branch off in your own direction, or completely change the setting.

Character Creation

Character creation is simple and straightforward. The book gives you step by step instructions on how to create your character. You envision who you want your character to be and then follow nine steps toward creating that character. There are some stat choices and assets, which are used instead of classes, so you can mix or match as you see fit. The assets from all of the published games are free on the Tomkins Press website. While the rule sets are slightly different between the different versions, there are still plenty of assets that you can use in Ironsworn to give you even more character options. I like how supplies are abstracted, so you don’t need to get bogged down in those details and can play the game.

Vows

As I’ve mentioned, vows are what drive the story. Your character starts with a Background Vow, which is their overarching story. They also have an Inciting Event Vow, which is the vow that gets them started. Vows are assigned a rank which determines how difficult they are. For example, a Background Vow is assigned an Epic difficulty level and therefore would take a very long time to complete. On the other hand, something which is only Troublesome will be completed one session or less.

Moves

Moves are the mechanic which is used to resolve actions or questions. There are six categories of moves and each move comes with a specific trigger, phrased “When you _______.” Moves are general and flexible enough that you can use them in a lot of different cases, but one thing to remember is that there is a chance of failure whenever you roll a move. When I first started playing I rolled moves for everything and my first character nearly died in the first session, which actually fit very well for the story so I went with it.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The biggest pro for me is the price. Ironsworn is free. I went ahead and purchased a physical copy but you don’t have to. Also all the additional resources and information for Ironsworn and the other games using this engine are free on the Tompkins Press website. You don’t have to buy Starforged to see the assets for the game. Because it is free you can find the game in numerous different VTTs and note taking apps.

Given the narrative focus of the game it is fairly easy to reskin it to an IP of your choice. There is a lot of freedom in that regard. Given that the game isn’t too crunchy it makes it easy to change the fluffy parts. For example, there is a large amount of reskins online for Ironsworn. My personal favorite has been Eldersworn, which is a Lovecraftian investigation reskin. I’ve probably put more time into this reskin than the base game. I’ve also been playing around with a reskin to play in Rokugan.

Cons

As I’ve mentioned, the game isn’t too crunchy and if that is what you like in a solo game, then you will want to look elsewhere. There are sessions where I only roll once or twice. When to roll can also fit in the con column, because it is so up to you and it can be hard to get the feel for when to roll. For example, when I started I rolled often and Nest (from above) almost died because of it. Now after playing regularly for months, I’ve found that I’m rolling very little, so finding that happy middle can be difficult. I also feel like the style game you are playing plays a role into how much and when you should roll.

Who It’s For

I’ve been recommending Ironsworn to people who are solo-RPG curious or for those of my friends who have tried solo RPGs but they didn’t really stick for them. I would also say that if you are looking for a low-magic setting this would be a good way to go. One of the world truths you decide on when the game begins is regarding magic and you have the choice of no, little, or lots.

Ironsworn has both GM and co-op options, so if you are looking for a game that you can play yourself, but sometimes play it with others then this would be a good choice. I’m currently playing a co-op on Discord with a colleague. It is slow going but we are having a lot of fun with it.

Finally, if you are looking for a rule set that is easy to pick up and then reskin to your own flavor of game or your favorite IP, then Ironsworn is a good option. As I’ve mentioned there are numerous reskins of the game for all sorts of IPs.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoy Ironsworn and given that it is my spark game, it is one that I will probably always have a campaign in. It is a slick little system and free, so if you haven’t played it there really isn’t any reason to not give it a go. I’ve picked up Ironsworn: Delve which I also enjoyed. I’ve also grabbed Starforged but have only given it a cursory scan with the exception of a few mechanics which I lifted to use in the Eldersworn game I’ve been playing.

Let me know what you think. Have you played it? What have your experiences with the game been like?