Playing 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. Most importantly, you will swear iron vows and see them fulfilled—no matter the cost.

To play Ironsworn, you create your character, make some decisions about the world you inhabit, and set the story in motion. When you encounter something dangerous or uncertain, your choices and the dice determine the outcome.

Ironsworn supports three modes of play.

Guided: One or more players take the role of their characters, the protagonists in your story, while a gamemaster (GM) moderates the session. The GM helps bring the world to life, portrays the people and creatures you encounter, and makes decisions about the outcome of your actions.

Cooperative (Co-Op): You and one or more friends play together to overcome challenges and complete quests. A GM is not required. The Ironsworn game system will help you explore the dramatic stories of your characters and their fateful vows.

Solo: As with cooperative play, no GM is necessary. You portray a lone heroic character in a dangerous world. Good luck!

Ironsworn is primarily intended for solo and small group play. One to four players (plus a GM in guided mode) is ideal. The characters portrayed by other players are referred to in these rules as your allies.

What You Need

If you’re playing solo, just grab some materials and get started. A session can be as long as you like, from a few minutes to a few hours.

If you’re playing with one or more friends—either guided or co-op—you probably want to dedicate enough time to make some progress in your quests. Plan on a couple of hours or more.

Make sure you have:

• Two ten-sided dice (d10) for each player. These are your challenge dice.
• One six-sided die (d6) for each player. This is your action die.
• Optionally, another pair of ten-sided dice to use as your oracle dice.
• A printed character sheet for each player and printed asset cards (available at ironswornrpg.com).
• Some counters for marking status tracks on your character sheet. You can use paper clips, beads, dice, coins, tokens from other games, or whatever is convenient.

Not required, but helpful: Printed reference sheets for moves, the blank Ironlands map, and other worksheets available at ironswornrpg.com.

Mechanics and the Fiction

Ironsworn uses various mechanics, such as rolling dice and managing the stats and resources on your character sheet. As a player, you will often make decisions based on a desired mechanical outcome. For example, you might choose a particular action to get a bonus on your die roll. The basic mechanics of Ironsworn are introduced in this chapter.

Ironsworn is also heavily reliant on the fiction, which is the imagined characters, situations, and places within your game. You will play from the perspective of your character. You will interpret actions and events in a way that is consistent with the dramatic, fictional reality you have forged for your story and your world.

To learn more about how the mechanics and fiction interact, see page 203.

The Setting

The default setting for your adventures is the Ironlands. It is a rugged peninsula of isolated communities and untracked wilds on the frontier of the known world. You can learn more about the setting starting on page 111. For now, here’s a summary of some default assumptions.

• Two generations ago, your people were driven to the Ironlands from their former homes in the Old World.
• The weather here is harsh. Winters are brutal. The rugged terrain makes travel and trade difficult and dangerous.
• There are no thriving cities. Instead, Ironlanders live in isolated villages or steadings. Their homes are modest buildings of wood, stone, and thatch. 
• Many areas of the Ironlands are unexplored and uninhabited except by the firstborn—beings such as elves, giants, and the wolf-like varou.
• Coins have little value here. Most commerce is made through barter and favors.
• Some communities remain isolated and independent, while others trade in basic goods such as iron, grain, wood, livestock, wool, and coal.
• There is a diverse mix of peoples and cultures within the Ironlands, even within a single community. You can envision your character and those you interact with however you like, unbound by considerations of geography, lineage, sexual orientation, and gender.
• Communities sometimes band together under a powerful leader, but there are no kingdoms. Territorial lines are sketchily drawn, if at all. 
• Large-scale warfare is unheard of, but raiding parties and skirmishes between communities are a constant menace. Some communities subsist entirely on raiding.
• Spear, axe, shield, and bow are the dominant weapons. Swords are rare and highly prized. Some warriors choose to wade into battle clad in iron, while others trust in their prowess or in the strength of their shields.
• Magic is subtle and mysterious. Mystics seek to ward away the darkness through the practice of magic, but often succumb to it. Rituals are performed as blessings and to gain insight.
• Supernatural creatures and beasts are rare, frightening, and dangerous.

You are encouraged to make Ironsworn your own, and to bend the setting to your liking. Your version of the Ironlands will be unique because you’ll define aspects such as the history of your people, magic, mythic beasts, and more. The choices you make will help inspire the personal vows driving your character.

You can also ignore the Ironlands entirely and play in your own world, or explore a setting inspired by media, history, or another roleplaying game. The Ironsworn rules are flexible enough to accommodate many forms of gritty fantasy or historical fiction.

With a bit of work, you can even adapt these rules to different genres. See page 237 for more on hacking Ironsworn.

Iron Vows

In the Ironlands, a vow is sacred. When you declare your solemn promise to serve or aid someone, or to complete a personal quest, your honor is bound to that vow. Abandoning or recanting an oath is the worst sort of failure. 

When you swear a vow, you touch a piece of iron. It can be an iron coin, a weapon, or your armor. It’s an old tradition. Some say the iron, a piece of the primal world, serves as a conduit to the old gods—so they may better hear your promise.

Vows are the core of playing Ironsworn. It is your vows that drive you. These goals create the context for your adventures and challenges. As you complete vows, you gain experience and new abilities.

When you create your character, you start with a background vow. When you setup your campaign, you envision or encounter an inciting incident which triggers a new vow. There are several prompts for vows associated with the details of the world in chapter 4 (page 111), and with foes and encounters in chapter 5 (page 133). You can select something which fits your vision for the world and your character’s goals, or just come up with something yourself. If you are playing in co-op mode, you and your fellow players may have shared vows and personal vows. 

To learn more about your first vows and starting your campaign, see page 193.

Your Character

You use your character sheet to track your stats, overall condition, and progress in your quests. You also have assets (page 21), which are abilities you choose when you create your character and when you gain experience. These components help you determine the outcome when things get dangerous or uncertain.

However, your character is more than these mechanical bits. You are the protagonist in a rich story. You have hopes and fears, virtues and failings. You have a history. You are, or were, part of a community. This is the fiction of your character. Consider a few of these details as you create your character, but don’t sweat it. You’ll evolve it through play. At the start of your game, put your character on stage to see what happens. Fill in the blanks—for your character and your world—as you go.

To learn more about creating your character and the components that make up your character, see page 31.

Character Sheet

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Vows

Your vows (page 35) are your sacred oaths to complete perilous quests. Each vow has a rank and is managed through a progress track.

Stats

You have five stats (page 33) which represent the core aspects of your character. These are often added as a bonus when you take action.

Experience

As you fulfill vows, you earn experience (page 44). You spend experience to gain new assets.

Momentum

As you take action, you build or lose momentum (page 11). Positive momentum can help improve the result of an action. Negative momentum can undermine an otherwise successful action.

Debilities

You suffer debilities (page 36) as you face harrowing challenges. Some debilities are temporary and easily mended; others are permanent.

Health, Spirit, and Supply

You have status tracks for health, spirit, and supply (page 33). These represent your current condition and readiness.