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Ironsworn

I recently discovered Shawn Tomkin’s amazing TTRPG Ironsworn. I’ve lately been struggling with GM burnout and my few gaming groups have been on hiatus due to everyone’s busy schedules so I was excited to find a PbtA TTRPG built specifically for solo and co-op play. If you aren’t familiar with Ironsworn, check it out. It is amazing…and free!

Prior to discovering Ironsworn, I tried out a a short solo session with a different system and had liked my character from that so I replicated her for this game (Hob, a naive but courageous and competent young woman with a possibly cursed sword).

I didn’t have a perfect grasp of the mechanics when I started so I was figuring some stuff out as I went along and I intentionally left a lot of blank questions about Hob’s backstory and personality to discover through play. I’ve been using roll20 because the Ironsworn character sheet for it includes all of the moves, assets, and oracles meaning I almost never need to reference the book during play.

I enjoyed the journal I kept through the first couple sessions so much that I thought I might as well put them in a blog, just in case any others found them interesting. I also found myself sketching some of the scenes (poorly) between sessions to get in the mood to play so will likely include some of those in the journal (they are verrrrry rough). I haven’t done any sort of creative writing, outside of GM prologues or epilogues, or really drawn in decades so I am overjoyed that this game has resurrected some of the hobbies I loved most in my youth. That said, I am wordy and tend to write like I speak so I apologize in advance to anyone that would subject themselves to my lopsided comma:period ratio.

The Ironlands – Our Truths

The Old World

The savage clans called the Skulde invaded the kingdoms of the Old World. Our armies fell. Most were killed or taken into slavery. Those who escaped set sail aboard anything that would float. After an arduous months-long voyage, the survivors made landfall upon the Ironlands.

Iron

Inscrutable metal pillars are found throughout the land. They are iron gray, and smooth as river stone. No one knows their purpose. Some say they are as old as the world. Some, such as the Iron Priests, worship them and swear vows upon them. Most make the warding sign and hurry along their way when they happen across one. The pillars do not tarnish, and even the sharpest blade cannot mark them.

Legacies

Other humans sailed here from the Old World untold years ago, but all that is left of them is a savage, feral people we call the broken. Is their fate to become our own?

Communities

Much of the Ironlands live in communities called circles. These are settlements ranging in size from a steading with a few families to a village of several hundred. Some circles belong to nomadic folk. Some powerful circles might include a cluster of settlements. We trade (and sometimes feud) with other circles. The Havens have been forged into a home though. Villages within the Havens are connected by well-trod roads. Trade caravans travel between settlements in the Havens and those in outlying regions. Even so, much of this land is untamed.

Leaders

Leadership is as varied as the people. Some communities are governed by the head of a powerful family. Or, they have a council of elders who make decisions and settle disputes. In others, the priests hold sway. For some, it is duels in the circle that decide.

Defense

For most of the Ironlands, supplies are too precious, and the lands are too sparsely populated, to support organized fighting forces. When a community is threatened, the people stand together to protect their own. Nevertheless, those communities with resources to spare may possess an adequately equipped militia or dedicated wardens and the rumors of ambitious clans with standing warbands have become more common. Free wardens can be found throughout the Ironlands, wandering mercenaries who hire on to serve a community or protect caravans.

Mysticism

Magic is as common as it is dangerous. It courses through this land as the rivers flow through the hills. Though those few gifted enough to wield its true power are rare, even common folk might know a helpful ritual or two.

Religion

The people honor old gods and new. In this harsh land, a prayer is a simple but powerful comfort.

Firstborn

The firstborn are fiercely protective of their own lands. Though stories of trade and parlay exist, the elves of the deep forests and the giants of the hills tend to prefer an isolation from humans…a preference shared by most humans as well.

Beasts

Beasts of all sorts roam the Ironlands. They dwell primarily in the reaches, but range into the settled lands to hunt. There, they often prey on cattle, but attacks on travelers, caravans, or even settlements are not uncommon. Those privileged communities with dedicated wardens enjoy more peace but for the others, community hunts and aspiring slayers fill the void.

Horrors

We are wary of dark forests and deep waterways, for monsters lurk in those places. In the depths of the long-night, when all is wreathed in darkness, only fools venture beyond their homes. How long will our hearth’s light keep the dark at bay though?

Basira ‘Hob’

Basira is young, trusting, and resilient. She’s competent and confident though inexperienced and untested. The blood-stained blade, on the other hand, is old, tempered and cruel.

Anyways, thanks in advance to anyone that delves into my ramblings.