A solo Ironsworn: Starforged run

As I’m backing @BiggerBoat’s ongoing kickstarter for the sci-fi version of his Ironsworn RPG and I’ve so far just been watching other people play Ironsworn itself, I figured why not take a crack at it in public and see how it goes. I’ll mostly be doing a solo run powered by my own creativity but may solicit advice or ideas.

First things first. Got some Truths to pick. These are broad setting choices in 14 categories. There are three suggestions (with story prompts and sometimes oracle tables for details) provided in each category but you can customize as much as you like.

  1. Cataclysm. The assumption of Ironsworn: Starforged is that your adventures take place in a distant galaxy known as the Forge, where the people fled 200 years ago after some terrible cataclysm overswept their original territory. This Truth is about what that cataclysm was. The suggestions include that a Sun Plague extinguished the stars (what do we think caused it?), we were united in facing an implacable foe but on the edge of defeat (what?), or our home galaxy fell into an age of chaos (sparked by what?). One of the suggestions for the second option is “artificial intelligence”. I was kind of noodling around a riff on Battlestar Galactica’s cylon menace, less for the human-bodied infiltrators and more for the way it forced the survivors to rely on outdated technology. So I think the cataclysm was as follows:
    An empire arose whose most powerful enforcers were artificially intelligent android warriors. The resistance was unable to compete militarily, but managed to hack into the control systems and unleashed a digital virus to turn their warriors against them. Unfortunately, something went wrong and the virus mutated, spreading more rapidly and more pervasively than ever intended and turning every artificial intelligence it corrupted implacably against all human life.

  2. Exodus. How did our ancestors flee the home galaxy? Suggested options include generation ships, experimental FTL drives that achieved tremendous speeds but may have fractured reality in the process, and mysterious alien gates (one-way). None of these are quite the direction I’m looking for here, but the last is a bit like it. Again, the desperate ragtag fleet of mostly civilian refugees imagery from BSG appeals to me. I think:
    Our ancestors were one of a handful of surviving fleets dispersing to every arm of the galaxy, a ragtag assembly of refugees in outdated ships too old to have AI vulnerable to the virus. By purest providence, they happened across a wormhole opening as the enemy was nipping close at their heels. Not everyone survived the crossing or even made it in before it closed, but those that did found themselves in a entirely new galaxy. We don’t know what happened to those left behind, nor do we know when the wormhole might open again.

  3. Communities. What are our communities like? Suggested options: not many survived and we’re scattered and isolated, many ships and settlements are united under the banner of a handful of Founder Clans, or we’ve succeeded in establishing strong civilization but energy storms called balefires are threatening to cut us off. Given what I’ve established so far, I’m feeling kind of a split between the first two. I think the fleet coalesced from several worlds along the path of their flight, with different cultures and family groups, but it was necessarily not the full populations of any of those worlds and more were lost along the way and in the climactic wormhole journey so 200 years.
    The remnant governments that organized the evacuation efforts formed a loose council during the Exodus itself and maintained those ties in our new home, but any given settlement tends to be a small and often scrappy endeavour centered around a few families with similar cultural ideals and expectations, homesteading like the days of the American Old West. There’s enough worlds to go around and not enough people. The exception is Arrival, where the Council has established a front line of defense in case the Rift opens again and our old enemy pours through.

  4. Iron. Swearing iron vows is a key mechanic in Ironsworn. Why is iron special? Suggestions include vows being sworn on the iron remnants of the ships that carried us to the Forge, black iron being a special, super-dense material forged by a long dead civilization, and Ironsworn pledging their vows on iron blades, which carry honor and are useful in shipboard combat. I don’t really feel any specific inspiration on this and I definitely enjoy the precursor civilization trope, so I’m going to go with:
    The Ironsworn carry weapons, armor, or tokens crafted from black iron, and swear vows upon it. Black iron is special because of its incredible density and resistance, craftable only using technology we’ve found in ancient ruins.

  5. Laws. What laws govern this civilization. Suggestions include mostly being a lawless frontier with corruption and criminals running rampant, laws and governance varying widely but bounty hunters having widely recognized authority to fulfill their contracts, and communities being bound under a covenant established at the time of the Exodus. I think based on the fiction I’ve already established, we’re again kind of in-between some of this. There definitely isn’t a strong central government keeping order galaxy-wide, and it’s mostly pretty frontier spirit. But there is a Council and kind of the shells of old planetary governments that constitute the basis of factions in it. And they have to keep an eye out for the threat we left behind. So…
    The Council has established rules that they would like followed…for our mutual protection and co-existence, of course. But travel more than a month or so from Arrival and Council forces are rarely seen and the frontiersfolk mostly have to fend for themselves and what they call justice may not be so familiar to offworlders. Only the desperate fuck with an iron-sworn, iron-armored Council Marshal on a mission, though.

  6. Religion. Pretty self evident. Suggestions include: having left our gods behind in the Exodus - so many died that most people considered the things we believed before useless and false, but there’s still some who crave something to fill the hole it left behind; faith as diverse as our people; and a religious triumvirate of faiths battling for influence and power. I think the closest for this setting would be the middle.
    Many faiths were practised in our homes before. The nightmare of the cataclysm scarred, twisted or ended some, but ultimately you can expect to find at least a subtly different variant of a known faith and perhaps something totally unique on almost any world you visit. The most pervasive are the Custos, a sort of resurgent knightly order formed around the descendants of the brave few soldiers who survived the desperate rear guard action that let the rest of us make it into the Rift.

  7. Magic. Not a traditional part of most science fiction settings, as such, but Starforged is an adaptation of a fantasy game, after all, and there’s your Jedi, psychics, and so on… Suggestions here: magic doesn’t exist; supernatural powers are wielded by rare people known as paragons (with some different possible sources) although it’s not truly magic; or unnatural energies flow through the Forge and magic and science are two sides of the same coin. I’m going to go with a variation on the second option.
    The Custos are rumored to display incredible abilities (perhaps even superhuman!) among their most sacred and elevated castes. Occasionally one hears stories of other kinds of strange events and doings among the further frontiers, perhaps from caches of ancient lore. It seems difficult to credit, but the Forge is full of wonders.

  8. Communication and Data. How do we communicate, and how much knowledge do we have? Suggestions: Much was lost when we came to the Forge, and it is a dark age; Information is life - we rely on a guild of space couriers to transport messages and data across the vast distances; in settled domains a near instantaneous network connects us (but the hubs are a target for sabotage or just failures). Well, there is no freaking way this society would use a near instantaneous network even if they had the technology, so that one’s out. Again, I think a mix of the first couple.
    Some things were lost in the Exodus. Others were destroyed intentionally to preserve us from our foes. All in all, life in the Forge is much harder than it was in the golden days before the Exodus. There are rumors that the Council maintains a heavily guarded archive of much forbidden knowledge from those times, but surely they of all people would know better than to risk this? Messages between stars are carried the old way by hand, by itinerant traders, adventurers of fortune, Custos on pilgrimage, or Marshals pursuing some obscure mandate. It is expected of any traveller by right and custom.

  9. Medicine. Suggestions: Our advanced medical technologies and expertise were lost during the Exodus; technicians called riggers offset a scarcity of supplies and technology with basic organ and limb replacements; a sworn order of healers preserve medical knowledge and train new generations. I think a lot of medical tech pre-cataclysm involved nanotech-based genetic modification and cybernetics that had powerful onboard processing. Brain-based interfaces. When you’ve got murderous AIs reprogramming anything they can hack into, all of this becomes a liability. So, mostly the first one, but with a few tweaks.
    Medicine in the Forge is scarcely better than it was in the early days of the 21st century in most respects, even in the most central civilized worlds. We can’t risk the advanced computing that would once have made so many diseases and injuries easily surmounted. Only crude mechanical limb replacements can be made, for example. On the frontier it’s usually worse - pharmaceuticals husbanded from trader visits from worlds with more manufacturing capacity, plant-based remedies, first aid, and other basic techniques. Lucky worlds might have a doctor or two with serious training living there.

  10. Artificial Intelligence. Nope nope nope. Neeext… well, okay. Suggestions are: We no longer have access to advanced computer systems, instead relying on Mentats (yes the book calls them Adepts, but we all know what the influence is); the vestiges of artificial intelligence are coveted by those in power; sentient machines live with us in the Forge. Yeah, definitely not the last one. The middle one could be done - the idea that the Council (with that rumored forbidden knowledge archive) has ginned up a few very secret AIs since, after all, to the best of our knowledge we didn’t bring the corrupting virus with us and our enemies didn’t make it here is…fun. But I think we’ll hold that in reserve.
    The sort of computers we had of old are too dangerous to allow anymore. We all saw the consequences of that sort of reckless technology. Most worlds have to make do with old-fashioned learning and memorization. But in recent years, the worlds closest to Arrival have pioneered a process that can shape…certain classes of person…with specific drugs and surgeries, into a sort of human data processor we call a Cogitator. They are uncomfortable to be around but one cannot deny their utility. (And to be very clear, this is absolutely meant to be a fucked up move made by bad people.)

  11. War. What are soldiers and fighting like in the Forge? Suggestions: resources are too precious to support organized fighting forces or advanced weaponry; those who can pay hire a professional mercenary guild known as the Legion, everyone else is on their own; war is constant, deadly and high tech. I think in our setting we can 100% rule out that last one, on the tech grounds alone. I also think things are mostly too scattered and underpopulated to see really big fights.
    The main organized fighting force is based on Arrival. The Council’s Sentinels guard the Rift in case it ever opens. Nothing could be a more important use of our military resources. The Council has a few other Sentinel outposts in nearer space to play rear guard, defend core worlds against any new threats that may arise, and keep the peace. But they simply don’t have the resources to guard every frontier world and traveler. Marshals may be sent in response to requests, but rarely in sufficient numbers to contend with a truly military scale problem. No, frontier worlds are mostly on their own unless they host a Custos temple or they can demonstrate the need for a Crusade.

  12. Lifeforms: Suggestions: diverse and varied lifeforms are all over most planets, and we brought our own with us; aberrant “forgespawn” threaten to overrun other life in the galaxy; life in the Forge was engineered and seeded by the Essentia, ancient entities enacting their own inscrutable will on the galaxy. Previous Truths don’t really spark any specific ideas here, so I think I’m just gonna go with the first one.
    Life in the Forge is abundant, both a blessing and a curse. We’ve found species useful, obnoxious, prone to eating human…a whole spectrum. And with some work, many planets will support the familiar creatures we brought with us.

  13. Precursors: there were other civilizations before us - what were they like? Suggestions: many civilizations over the eons, with scavenger “grub” crews exploring and looting them; an advanced spacefaring empire that ruled the whole galaxy then vanished, leaving behind mysterious vaults untethered from our reality; biomechanical Remnants engineered to fight some ancient war that persist, guarding ancient secrets and fighting each other. All of these are cool, frankly. But straightforwardly going for choice one. Just perfect for the sort of frontier saga I’ve set up.
    We’re not the first ones here. Seems like every planet comes with alien ruins of one stripe or another, often in layers going down millenia. You can find some amazing things down there. You can also get real dead. Or crippled for life. Not like there’s a hospital anywhere near most of these places…

  14. Horrors - okay, sure, there’s just your regular alien beasties out there…but are there other things? Suggestions: reality is mutable and spacers might encounter unsettling phenomena but nobody else much believes them; get deep enough into space, especially near dying stars, and supernatural occurrences and entities are common; the energies of the Forge give rise to the living dead and there is a special order dedicated to putting them back in the grave. I’m content to leave this as basically an unsettling and open possibility of weird horrors on the fringes - time fuckery, spirits, doppelgangers, things waking up that shouldn’t, etc. Not real interested in widespread zombieism though.
    You hear some real weird stories about what happens in deep space between the stars, or in the ruins (what did kill those former civilizations, anyway?), or even just in those isolated little towns on a planet some enterprising homesteader decided needed a guiding human hand. On the other hand, you gotta imagine not just that those guys are killing a lot of time with alcohol, but that it’s mostly alcohol they brewed themselves and from some truly random shit. So, who knows. Couldn’t have been that bad if they’re telling the story, right?

And that’s the Truths! Next up is the character I’ll actually be playing. I feel like some basic possibilities I’ve set up include:
A Custos on one of the pilgrimages their faith mandates, either fresh out of the academy or a mystic ritual initiating him into the deeper mysteries. (maybe an Aescapulian-trained Custos, who knows)
A Council Marshal going on troubleshooting missions for the Council. Presumably a hardened gunslinger. Maybe with a deputy backing him up. Possibly there’s some sinister agenda at work!
A member of an archaeological crew moving from planet to planet in search of fabulous treasures, a terrible ancient secret they’ve found hints of, or simply figuring out some deep mystery.
A homesteader on the frontier, dealing with the varied threats and opportunities of a fresh new alien planet, perhaps under threat by a rival colony, an emerging still living alien presence, horrors lurking in the ruins that are surely local, or even the Custos (a crusade in the area) or Council (some sinister thing or other).

I can see others - a trader; a crusader against the Cogitator industry; a Sentinel confronting the returned foe or other survivors entering the scene after all these years, either through a resurgent Rift at Arrival, or at some more remote post that’s unexpectedly on the front lines, etc. But I think the above four are the most exciting ideas to me. Thoughts?

Looking forward to this!

Gets my vote.

Neat! Doing the same thing with my wife right now - very similar setting, except we fled from the AI in FTL ships, swearing oaths on the shattered remnants of them (just as the drive shattered space and unleashed magic), the new communities scattered and broken in lawless, desperate space - a new dark age.

Man, this looks cool. How did I not know about this? Reading through Ironsworn rules now!

And mine.

The Marshal probably makes for the most open experience and looks like a good default to me, but maybe the Custos would work better for a learning game since it is the one with the clearest goal / endpoint. The archaeological crew is the one that most jumps out to me, but that would likely work better with a group than solo (maybe I’ll ‘borrow’ it if I ever get to play an RPG in person again). The homesteader idea seems really cool too, but it reads like that would require the most familiarity with the system to work well, but I think it’s the one that would most reward your creativity.

In sum, I, uh, kind of like all of them! I look forward to reading along regardless of which you pick.

You’ve essentially created Battlestar Firefly here. So a Malcom Reynolds character with a ship crew just trying to survive on the fringes isn’t out of the possibility either.

I love it and hope to jump into my own storyline soon. I just got the books on my ipad last night.

Any character will have an overarching (and difficult to complete) background vow to kind of generally guide play. I agree that completing a Custos pilgrimage is a pretty straightforward thing to make the background vow but any of them will have something like that. For doing a crew, I’d probably take one particular member as a Companion asset and just write the rest as a community I have a bond with or perhaps a couple individual members w/ bonds and the rest more background. Similarly, as a homesteader most of my surrounding community would be bonds or background NPCs. Sounds like people are pulling for the Marshal, though, so that’s who I’ll probably put together next time I have some time to sit around and spitball.

And heck, this is a game where you can absolutely just take the setting you established with one character and play another in it when you’re done with (or even concurrently with) the first one. I probably won’t get that far, but we’ll see! :)

Firefly is definitely another strong space adventure influence I have, that’s for sure. And I’m sure no one could possibly tell that the Custos are supposed to be a Jedi riff. :P

Really enjoying this! Keep going!

Okay, first step towards creating a character is to pick two Path assets. (Assets are little bundles of moves on a card, usually with a default starting move and the ability to buy two others with experience.) Paths say something about your character’s own nature and abilities. I think the fiction I’ve established for the Marshals makes the first Path obvious: I am Armored, my Marshal’s uniform a head to toe suit of black iron armor crafted in the terrible heat of the plasma forges in the fortress world of Arrival. Every Marshal’s armor is a little different, reflecting that Marshal’s personality, and I think maybe they take a mononymic by which they’re known in their role as Marshal that’s reflected in a sigil on their breast. (I dimly recall this might be a thing Mandalorians do or very similar to it. Wasn’t really intentional, but hey, stealing ideas from your influences is one of the building blocks of roleplaying…). This is one of the reasons Marshals are taken so seriously - that armor makes them real hard to put down.

Mechanically, this means I start with this move:

If you wear your finely crafted set
of personal armor…
 When you Face Danger, React Under Fire,
or Clash against physical attacks or impact,
you may put trust in your armor’s protection.
If you do, set the value of your action die to
4 and roll only the challenge dice.

For the second Path, we have a number of possibilities, which may say things about the overall role of Marshals in society, or may just reflect how this particular Marshal operates. My focus is going to be on personal scale, off-ship adventures so I don’t think I’ll take Paths like Ace (where I’d be very good at piloting vehicles). It’s possible that Marshals, as individual agents of the Council, could lean into espionage Paths like Agent (or Shadow, where I’d be able to turn invisible). But I see them more as loud and proud heavies. I could reflavor Bounty Hunter to reflect a traditional US Marshal role of retrieving fugitives and federal criminals, but I don’t think that’s the particular tack I want to take for this character - I might do that stuff anyway, I just won’t get special moves to help with it. And I’m definitely not going with more scholarly paths like Archivist or ones about being a fringe drifter Outcast or a cash-driven Mercenary or similar. The options I’m considering include a variety of combat focuses - Gunner - perhaps the Marshals in addition to their heavy armor pack big deal firepower; Gunslinger for the classic pistoleer Old West feel; Blademaster - having Marshals be swordmasters wielding special black iron blades would be an unexpected direction, I think, but possibly cool; or maybe Weaponmaster - Marshals being heavily trained and armed masters of weapon-based combat would also make a lot of sense. On the other hand, I could take a Path more about my role as an agent of the government and be Bannersworn, or be a Diplomat as Marshals are operating most commonly a long way from the immediate resources of the Council and even a hardy warrior can’t solve every problem through violence. Or I could take something that reflects more personal experience as a Veteran… These are…all so tempting. But you know what, my first instinct was “maybe he’s a gunslinger”. So. He’s a Gunslinger. And Marshal pistols come from the gunsmiths on Arrival as well. They don’t rely on special ammunition because they’re going to need to resupply in the field. But they’re cleaner, more reliable and more accurate than most people are going to have out there. The mechanics:

If you wield a pistol…
 When you Enter the Fray by facing off
against your foe (+heart), or by preparing
to act without tipping them off (+shadow),
add +1 and take +1 momentum on a hit.
On a strong hit with a match, you may
immediately take a shot (without making a
move) and mark progress twice.

Next up, creating a backstory. This is meant to be pretty straightforward and lightly detailed at the moment, in order to leave space for inspiration when it becomes relevant. I think I was a young child of four or five that an older Marshal found in the wreckage of a homestead on the fringes when he came in response to a distress call. I have followed in his footsteps and remain fiercely loyal to the Marshal Service for saving me then. If my rescuer and foster father ever found out what happened to my original family, he hasn’t shared the details with me. I certainly don’t remember. But it’s a hard life out there, and the odds that they would have survived out in the alien jungles without their tools or supplies? Let alone not returned for their youngest child? No, they’re dead.

Now, the background vow. This is a tough, epic iron vow that’s meant to be kind of a guiding light for your overall adventure that you spend months or years working on. I confess I don’t have a really strong inspiration for this as I don’t want our Marshal to be obsessed with the fate of his family (who he doesn’t even really remember) and a lot of big picture “stop a threat to the Council” type vows I don’t see how he would know about them to swear a vow (this is meant to be an in-character vow, I think). But, here’s something I think will work:
I swear to make the Cale Psi sector safe for human settlers.
It’s a huge task. Probably well beyond one man. But it is a goal he can meaningfully work towards in many, many small steps and even if he never fully fulfills it he can, I think, die contented if he’s done what he can towards it. Name pending, obviously.

Next up is the starship. Everyone gets one (though if I’d played a homesteader I’d probably have swapped it for the Deed asset Homesteader, which is normally intended to be earned during play as one settles into a home community). It’s able to transport several people, carry support vehicles, and do both interstellar and atmospheric flight. One can also spend experience to equip it with Module assets. In this case, I’m meant to say how I got it, describe it and any quirks it has, and name it. The how is obvious: it’s issued by the Council to Marshals when they first take up the armor. I think it’s a sleek, black craft with a subtly intimidating profile and a big ol’ council logo on both sides. On board, it’s a very functional, governmental sort of craft but clean and as high tech as this setting offers, which is to say, not really very. In theory a solo character can operate their starship by themself and I think in an emergency I would still be able to at least get it set back on a course to Council space, but between the low level of automation in the setting and the Marshal’s backing I think I’d rather have a couple of support staff - not full deputies, definitely not combat personnel, but maintenance and shipboard duties. I’m not going to take them as full on Companion assets, at least not yet, because I don’t envision them taking part in my planetary adventures or being personally loyal enough to back me up in ways beyond the logistical/looking-things-up sort of functions. In terms of quirks…it’s a fairly new ship and our Marshal takes pride in making sure it’s kept up, but they do sometimes register phantom communications on the in-system radio, garbled and hard to make out but peculiarly sinister in feel. It gets worse out in the dark. I’ll postpone the name until I’ve got some name generators handy (or if people have suggestions…)

Finally, I pick a third asset from any of the categories: Path like before, Module to enhance the Starship, a support Vehicle, or a Companion. There are a few tempting Modules - ship armor, stealth tech, heavy cannons…but as I say, I don’t really want to focus on the space side of things. There’s an immediately tempting Vehicle - a Hoverbike, allowing me to move at speed with a passenger and gear. As far as Companions, I think the Bots are right out and I’m not particularly tempted by most of the other options (even the Sidekick), but there are two that feel like interesting and relevant choices. One is a Glowcat. Glowcats can read the people around them and reflect that information in the color and patterning of their fur, which would be an obvious and excellent advantage for a Marshal. The other is the Symbiote. I think it would say some really interesting things about the Council if Marshals had a weird alien symbiote empowering aggressive action. But that’s also not really the archetype I’m leaning into, so, hmm. Finally, I could take a third Path. Bannersworn, which would represent loyalty and advantages when working on behalf of the Council or (what I see as) its ideals, leaps out. The other thing I could see in relation to the background vow is Slayer, which makes me better at confronting alien creatures, especially on behalf of a community. I didn’t have that context when picking initial paths, and I don’t think it’s the traditional focus of the Marshals, but for this one? It could make sense. I don’t think I have a strong preference between the options I mention, so I’ll ask which y’all might prefer to see (and I can always buy other assets with experience later)?

Next up, stats. There are five (the same ones in default Ironsworn), and you assign 3, 2, 2, 1 and 1. (Most rolls will be made adding one of these stats to your action die.) The stats are:

✴ Edge: Quickness, agility, and prowess when fighting at a distance
✴ Heart: Courage, willpower, empathy, sociability, and loyalty
✴ Iron: Physical strength, endurance, aggressiveness, and prowess
when fighting at close-quarters
✴ Shadow: Sneakiness, deceptiveness, and cunning
✴ Wits: Expertise, knowledge, and observation

I kinda want all of these, of course, but I think in this character’s case we’re going to go:
Edge 1, Heart 3, Iron 2, Shadow 1, Wits 2.
He’s strong-willed, courageous and loyal, not to mention it helps to be able to talk to people on the frontier, and his personal goals are very much about protecting and serving. He’s a capable combatant in closer ranges, and the heavy armor means he’s much more reliant on straightforward tactics than sneakiness or fighting at range. And finally, he’s smart and observant…but not as much so as he is charismatic.

Next step is to set starting values for a bunch of condition tracks and stuff. It’s all max right now, no need to detail it until it comes up.

Next, envisioning and naming the character. So, for look, well…I’ve been watching 30 Coins, and I kinda want to see our charismatic, crusading Marshal played by (ridiculously hot) Miguel Angel Silvestre. Grizzle him up a little and you can see it, right?
https://imgur.com/a/YgqXxAr
Of course, this contrasts to the heavy duty black armor he’s wearing pretty much at all times. But you know, on television we’d definitely see him with his helmet off in most interactions with humans (and most TV shows that cast Silvestre, we’d also see him topless a lot because those abs are a national treasure). As far as act…he’s a believer, and he defaults to a kind of earnest optimism…but definitely not naivete. He’s been around, he knows that people aren’t always good. He just wants to help them be. And well, he’s got practically unlimited authority and he is willing to use force to back it up. If he needs to. But if he does, it’s with sorrow in his eyes.

Name…well, I’ll take suggestions, or I’ll roll along with the sector and ship names (and his foster father). Also I think he has a Marshal name separate from his actual name. It should be something badass and single word. Something that you’d precede with “The”.

Finally, gear. This isn’t an equipment list game, but you are encouraged to call out a few signature items. In this case, we’ve already discussed the Marshal armor and (dual) pistols, but I think the black iron object he swears vows on is an etched and numbered Marshal badge with his personal Marshal sigil on it (same as the armor, and indeed it slots into a compartment in the armor when not in use). And I think that while we’ve established there’s no FTL communication in this setting, one of the reasons people take Marshals seriously despite being a long way from most backup is that there’s a failsafe device that skips an emergency FTL drone back to Marshal HQ if any Marshal is out of communication for more than two weeks or the ship is lost. And if that happens, the Council responds with overwhelming, salt-the-earth levels of force. Doesn’t save the Marshal…but you don’t mess with them lightly…

So there we have it. Most of my character. The next two exercises will build a starting sector to adventure in, and kickstart the initial adventure.

I also backed this, and looking forward to following Marshall Miguel!

Perhaps we also need a general Ironsworn thread…

Marshal Miguel is his name.

Looking hot is his game.

Criminals beware- he’ll fuck you up good

If you’re doing crime in his neighbourhood.

:P

Oooh. Nice setup! I’m smashing that like button!

Nice! My wife and I just rolled our characters. I’m Magnus Rook - A Gearhead / Archivist, who has docked his personal shuttle on the Starship 13 - with a vow to Rediscover The Concordia, My Ancestral FTL Jumpship. My wife’s character - Qasira “Harrow” Amari is an Augmented Scavenger, who has taken a vow to find our ancestors Lost Anti AI Tech, last seen on a ship of the FTL Fleet. Her ship, which she inherited from her forefathers, is frayed and on the verge of failure - and has an Expanded Hold.

Its clear that She secretly has taken on the long-shot commission of Magnus to charter her ship, in order to advance her own hidden goals.

I need so many more write ups of this, loving it. I’ve got an entire story line in my head loosely based around the 4 EVE factions. I just need to sit down this weekend and start writing it up.

Awesome - I’ve been extremely curious how this actually works! And with how verbose you are here, I can see its not unlike the vampire diary game I’ve tried out a few times as well.

Thousand .Year Old Vampire!

i literally just finished building a powerpoint character sheet to try that out, the idea being as memories and experiences are forgotten, they can be easily transferred into a diary on another slide with a simple copy and paste:

Summary


Thanks! It slipped my mind :-D

Looks awesome! I spent quite a few pages of paper on just writing - this seems more organized.

(Sorry for derailing - please post more Starforged history!)

Grab it from here if you like!

Don’t want to steal @malkav11’s thunder - but we did our first play session today, so gonna just post what happened. We built our sector out, constructed our shared connection, and kicked things off. My wife is used to more rules/plot heavy games like D&D - and while I’ve been DMing a bit for the past year, this is all a bit new to us (story based games where you build the world fairly unfettered, vs a traditional RPG where someone sets the scene and you act out with limited agency within a DM and rulebook defined scope).

Ahem - so our story - my character - Magnus Rook, newly arrived to the sector, is introduced to local pilot “Harrow” via our shared connection to the “The Broker”, a renowned fixer at Farpoint Landing - a large agricultural colony built into the side of a massive volcano on Farpoint, an ice world. She swears a vow to The Broker to get me to Pyre and back safely. Pyre is a Furnace World with one small orbital settlement, Sepulcher, known for ship building. My character’s opening vow is to land on Pyre and find a rumored derelict outpost containing knowledge towards my background quest (finding the FTL Ship Concordia).

Harrow has no idea how to get to Pyre - a shithole planet on the far side of the sector that no one wants to visit - but The Broker assures her that he has a contact at The Sigil - a deep space station known as a nexus for miners… and weapons… in the Cygnus Reach. Thus our Expedition To Pyre starts with a e-drive jump through known space to The Sigil - where we find it besieged by a cruiser and support ships - baring a symbol of a group known to Harrow as Radical Environmentalists who have had enough with The Sigil’s miners strip mining worlds across Cygnus Reach for its mineral wealth.

Harrow tries to sneak through the battle to dock at a little used docking port, and is almost spotted except for Magnus spotting a break in the fighting as he Assists Her by checking the instruments while she navigates through - burning her momentum.

As this episode ends - Harrow and Magnus have made some initial progress in this Dangerous Expedition, and she goes to meet The Broker’s contact to find more of this route. After that - we will have to slip through the siege to get to our next Waypoint.

Makes for a great story - but there was a LOT of “what do we do now?” “Lets roll against an Oracle to see what happens!”. “What the hell does that combination mean?”. I think we’re getting used to it - but its very stop and go as we figure out what actions to take, and oracles to test, and then trying to figure out what Obscure Oracle results mean for gameplay/fiction.

Its basically an Early Access product right now - useable, but definitely some gaps. Expeditions and the mechanics there need to be fleshed out a bit more (and he is promising to do so), but I can kind of see the intentions in the Oracles, even if not spelled out. Looking forward to our next session!