My free PbtA-influenced game, Ironsworn, was officially released yesterday. Print versions now also available. Thanks to PbtA designers and the community for all of the inspiration!
Originally shared by Shawn Tomkin
Ironsworn, the free RPG of perilous quests, is now officially released! I want to offer a huge thanks to everyone who supported and participated in the development of Ironsworn through dozens of preview releases since April 2017.
The digital edition and print edition are available now at DriveThruRPG (http://bit.ly/ironsworn). Please leave a rating or review while you are there!
Or, download directly from ironswornrpg.com.
What is Ironsworn?
In the Ironsworn tabletop roleplaying game, you are a hero sworn to undertake perilous quests in the dark fantasy setting of the Ironlands. You will explore untracked wilds, fight desperate battles, forge bonds with isolated communities, and reveal the secrets of this harsh land.
There are three ways to play:
Guided: One or more players take the role of their characters, while a gamemaster (GM) moderates the session.
Co-Op: You and one or more friends play together to overcome challenges and complete quests. No GM required.
Solo: You portray a lone character driven to fulfill vows in a dangerous world. Good luck!
To learn more about the system and setting, visit ironswornrpg.com.
About the Digital Edition
The Ironsworn digital package is free and complete. It includes the rulebook, character sheet, 45 printable asset cards (more coming soon!), and an extensive set of worksheets and reference materials.
About the Print Edition
The Ironsworn rulebook is also available in your choice of hardcover or softcover. Follow this link to buy your copy now: http://bit.ly/ironsworn.
Licensing
Hack away! Ironsworn is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. The Ironsworn SRD, to be released soon, will introduce a new, even more open license for commercial use. Visit http://ironswornrpg.com to learn more.
What’s Next
This is a major milestone in my Ironsworn quest, but the journey is not yet complete. Here is some of what is planned:
– New assets (Volume 2 will be out soon)
– Print-on-demand asset cards
– Ironsworn SRD: The Ironsworn mechanics under an open Creative Commons license.
– Ironsworn Sanctuary (working title): In this expansion for Ironsworn, you will establish and manage an Ironlands settlement. Will your community survive the long, dark winter? What threats will it face? What price will you pay to protect it?
– Ironsworn Frontiers: New worlds and genres for the Ironsworn system.
I can’t say much about the game, just reading it, but the layout and design is incredible for a FREE pdf. You should be charging money for that alone.
I rolled a miss on my “Run a RPG Publishing Business” move, Michael Pfaff. Seriously, though, it was a hobbyist exercise that got away from itself, and I want to make it as accessible as I can for folks to decide if it’s of interest. Thanks for the compliments!
This is great so far on my surface read
Shawn Tomkin make it pay what you want.
I agree with Ben Meginnis and Michael Pfaff. Please consider putting this as PWYW at least, don’t shy away when people are throwing money your way 😛
The 2d10 + 1d6 mechanic is BRILLIANT.
I’ll be avidly reading this tonight!
Shawn Tomkin You didn’t miss your roll at all! It’s a legitimate business strategy: You offer the book for free to reach as many people as possible and if people are hyped by it, trust me, they’ll be glad throwing monies at you by buying the physical book. Trust me, I do that all the time!
Plus it opens up for follow up books such as setting books, adventures, etc.
Thanks, Addramyr Palinor! I really appreciate it, and hope you enjoy your read-through. Please feel free to jump into our G+ group if you have any comments/questions.
Ironsworn
Read the first 80 pages yesterday.
So far I adore what I read!
I’m a big fan of PBTA games and while it’s not technically one, I still feel right at home.
Dice mechanic is novel and interesting.
Offers more variation than the standard 2d6.
The design layout is simple but elegant and easily readable. Makes it also printer-friendly.
The look at layout feels modern (opposed to old-school).
While I prefer drawn arts, the photos used share consistency and are beautiful and flavorful. I’m guessing it’s lot cheeper to use photoshoped pictures than arts.
The font used is spot on. Very readable and pleasing to the eye. Titles use a serif font that has a little touch of Diablo 1 feeling, which pleases my nostalgia brain.
The implied setting really appeals to me. Low fantasy grim & dark harsh and barren world. It has a feeling of Howard’s Conan The Barbarian.
GMless Coop/Solo is something that is not often tackled in TTRPG.
So far, the only tool that supports that I’ve read about is the Ask the Oracle move, which is not that exciting or novel to me. Basically, determine the probability of something being true/yes or false/no then roll over with a d%.
Although, the rules are written with the assumption that you can play solo/coop, so it feels consistent and supportive of this idea.
I’m eager to read later on to see the different tools offered to support this idea.
I like how Assets work. It allows you to custom build exactly the character you want to play. Although, I must admit I get more excited with defined/contained character concepts. For example, my mind would constantly fall back on the usual tropes of rangers and paladins and wizards but my imagination get sparked while I imagine the possibilities when I read a playbook like The Alchemist, The Slayer, The Fateless, etc. I’d probably go with one the method mentioned in the book which is : read the Assets and hand pick those that seems interesting to you, although that might lead to analysis paralysis (my stupid mind can’t make a choice when there’s too manu options). I’d have to give it a go to see!
I I like the idea of progress tracks for every challenge (including fights).
I like that you decide when to try to resolve it with a move and that your success is based on the progress done.
I didn’t like the “tick” part though. I have the feeling it would make a 10 boxes progress bar waaaay too long to resolve (40 moves for an epic!). Plus the game do state that you shouldn’t do more than a move 3 times in a row. I do reckcon that those are meant to last through multiple sessions, though. It probably makes sense at the table. That’s a bit silly, but I prefer making cross marks instead of stars in my checkboxes, haha!
I might hack it so that Troublesome is 5 progress, then 4, 3, 2, 1 for the other levels. A formidable journey that goes to 9 progress on 3 Strong rolls feels just right to me (on paper, at least). Will have to try it out RAW first.
So, tl;dr I like it a lot! I’m eager to discover more!