OOC Chatter

Yeah, it's serendipitous when the dice gods deliver something like that. Almost makes you forget the times they screw you!

Haven't run a solo game yet (except daydreaming about it, which half-counts, right?), so should probably start a thread here.

One concern is difficulty. I feel like any enemy above Troublesome difficulty would be tedious to fight solo. And juggling multiple characters for a party would also be tedious.

If you want to do a solo game without setting up your own game, you can sign up for this one: Solo Gaming That's where I did mine.

You have to think of ways to stop fights from being tedious. For example, you can choose to
- try and "end the fight" when you only have 5 or 6 progress.
- Use "face danger" to escape or hide (thus ending the fight)
- Use "compel" to calm down your foe
- Get some kind of divine intervention perhaps when you roll a twist
- Surrender and continue your story from a jail cell

There are ways to keep things fresh. It's about the story. If the mechanics are making the story boring, ignore them and do something cool or fun instead :)

I'm sure there will be some more twists, but it looks like the end of our first mission is within sight. This has had more than enough work for a playtest.

Enjoyed playing with you! Your efforts have been great. I have a better handle on the rules, and how I want to generally approach Ironsworn. Also, I'm usually reluctant to roll on Oracle tables, as I think my Big Brain can come up with something, but you've inspired me to dip my toes into that metaphorical pool.

If you want to keep playing, I'm up for it. I expect to play Ironsworn long-term regardless. We can continue this game just as we've done, as a one-on-one co-op. I'm enjoying this format, as it keeps the RP cleaner, gives each of us chances to shine, and there aren't a ton of player personalities/sensibilities to manage.

If you don't, that's fine. No pressure! (Well, maybe a little bit of pressure.🤣)

Yeah we're close to a one-shot conclusion I'd say. :)

It's been great. I've really enjoyed the way each of us did whatever we thought was a good idea and the other went with it regardless.

I saw that you used the action & theme table a few posts ago. Was fun to see you switch it up. Hehe. And I think it worked for you. The biggest reason for me to do that is to make sure I don't always default to the same idea. I think in Solo RP it's easy to fall into that pattern.

Although I very much enjoyed this game, I'm afraid I have to drop it after finishing this vow. It's more a time management thing than anything else. Cause this really has been great fun! I just can't find the time to keep up with all my games.

That being said. In a month or 2 I expect at least 1 of my games will have ended. If you're still interested then, we could pick it up (or start over). If you're not too busy. Alternatively, if you'd like to keep this fire smoldering, I'd be willing to keep this going at a rate of 2 posts per week-ish. I will have weeks where I can do more than that, but I can't commit to it.

If we do decide to continue, I think we'll need a journal thread to kinda remember things that happened in the past more easily. (My memory sucks :P)

If I may give a point of feedback about your posts. I've noticed that your 'Clash' action didn't really fit the Clash trigger.
Your RP:
The way I've always seen it is that in a clash you are defending against an attack (or some other enemy move) while trying to find an opening. It also makes the situation a bit more dramatic and dire, which I quite like.

Just something I happened to notice and, as anything in this game, it's open to interpretation ;)

Understand your situation completely. I'm looking for more than 2 posts per week, so we can end this once we complete our vow. But if you summon more RP capacity in the future, as you hope, definitely PM me. We'll see what we can cook up.

I probably won't retire this game, as I might run solo adventures here. Or just fool around.

I agree about Clash. I seem to forget the "your foe has initiative part." And in general, combat has taken some getting used to. But yeah, having the foe(s) try to harm you (even if it's destined to fail) makes for more interesting RP.

No problem. Yes, please keep it open at least for a while. If I get more capacity I will gladly pick it back up :D
Etta and Gevin can ride once more! (if Gevin lives :P)

I'm going to start a thread for a solo adventure. It won't pertain to our stuff, so you can ignore it.

Cool, have fun! :)

I see you're still looking for a coop game in the tavern. One of the games I was in didn't click for me and so I decided to pull out of it. And another game I am in is going at a lower rate than expected. Which is fine by me, but it's giving me some more time to fill up again.

If you want to continue the story of Gevin and Etta at the same rate as we were going before, I'm up for it :)
If you'd rather try with someone else or the pace doesn't suit you, feel free to say so. No hard feelings.

Sorry about your game trouble. Unfortunately, that's the nature of PbP. Can't really be sure how things pan out.

Yep, I'm up for continuing our (mis)adventure!

Some points:

1.) To be clear, you can post 5x/week? Doesn't have to be exact. I don't keep an activity spreadsheet or anything. Just as long as we're moving along at a good clip.

2.) Since we're doing co-op now, it's your world as much as mine. So if you want to create some lore, go for it. I'll unlock the World Lore thread, so you can post at your leisure. We can also redo the World Truths, if you want. Either roll randomly, or split up the choices between us. Or I'm fine with keeping them as is.

One request for lore, though: please make it manageable. I'll have a hard time digesting a ten-page biography of some ancient king. 😅

3.) Again, since this is co-op, I think it's fair to alternate who designs quests. So the next quest would be yours to make. We could stick around Rackon's Bluff, or venture out into the vastness of the Ironlands. Sound good?

4.) Even if our game continues, I still have the capacity to run another co-op game. So it's not a question of choosing between you or someone else. Both can be done! I'll make a new game forum if someone bites on my Games Tavern post, so this one doesn't get cluttered.

1) depends how you're counting. I don't think I can post every day. But when I post (like before) it will be 2 or 3 posts in one go. I'm expecting to be able to post every other day or faster. So 3 to 4 days a week with 2 or 3 posts each time.

Also as before, if I am delayed, I will mention it.

Please be honest if that's too slow for you. It would only cause each other frustration if we're not aligned.

2) I'm absolutely fine with the current lore. If I create new lore, it will probably happen during play. If it's anything important enough to make note of, I'll add it to the lore thread.

I'm also not a fan of huge back stories. So that works out. Hehe

The truths are already to my liking.

3) That sounds great. I will likely consult the oracle about it. :)

4) By all means :D
I'm also fine with it being part of this game but I think that would only work well if we are sharing the lore between the 2 stories.
It's an interesting idea to have them play out in the same universe and perhaps influence each other. But at the same time it could be a hassle. Haha.

Totally up to you!

1.) Yeah, that pace works for me.

2.) Got it.

3.) Oh, you and your oracles! 🤣 Can't wait to see what we get into.

4.) I'll probably keep any games separate. I want to create a whole new world, with new lore. That should also be easier for my other co-op partner.

Also: are you getting the "unread/read" post issues? I am. I double-check stuff frequently, so I shouldn't miss anything...but feel free to ping or message me if something seems amiss.

Are we ready to rock n' roll? We're still not technically finished with our first quest. Do you want to post what happened during our ill-fated trip back? I can, if you don't wanna.

Yes there's a bug going on with the read/unread posts. Keleth is aware and working on a fix.

Oracles are awesome. Haha. I think we ended with something that suggested that we don't make it back to town yet. Perhaps that can already be a new quest. I'll come up with something :)

With the Vestige staying with us (for now), I was wondering if you wanted to create some sort of buff.

I don't see an Asset that really fits, since the Vestige has wide-ranging power. Maybe if we use it for magic-y stuff, we add a +1 bonus? A Pay the Price situation could mean we roll on the Mystic Backlash table.

Maybe it eventually makes our lives so complicated/difficult that we want to get rid of it, or destroy it? Or if you want to basically keep it in the background, I can see the reasoning. I don't think it should dominate the story forever, or be a silver bullet we run to for every situation.

Open to suggestions.

In starforged there is a path named "Vestige".

In our story so far, I think option 2 or 3 are more fitting. What we choose as 'pay the price' can always be diced when the miss happens. The backlash table is a good choice, though I don't think we need to limit ourselves to that.

You've established that Etta wants to know more about the vestige and maybe use/control its power at some point. So I think we should use it in our story going forward. It can be an interesting plot device.

For Gevin, I'm probably going to focus more on the eye and the vestige's power that's now inside him. So, I'm happy to leave the item completely to Etta :) The things above are just suggestions. Pick what you feel like is best. If you want to create your own asset, by all means.

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Rules wise - I'm not sure we're supposed to just add a new asset for free, cause they usually cost XP. Maybe we can put a basic price on using it or limit the amount of times we can use it until either of us can spend the XP to unlock the power without cost. That would also fit with the narrative of Etta still learning how to control its power.

The Delve add-on details Artifacts and Rarities. It says Artifacts shouldn't provide ongoing mechanical benefits, but there is a move that allows you to use a Rarity.

I don't want to use too many (if any) non-core moves, though. And after reading your response, I think for now Malkath's Vestige will be treated like a normal weapon/item. So if I wanted to fire a magic bolt at someone, I'd roll +edge as if I were firing my bow, with no special mechanical benefit.

And of course, since it's a powerful item, it has significant narrative weight.

I think once I reach 3 XP, and can purchase a new asset, I'll come up with something to fit the Vestige. That'll mesh with Etta learning how to use its power. Unless we lose or destroy it before then! Dun dun dunnn....

For Summary of Events, I could add a zillion things...but then it wouldn't be a summary!

You can be the "owner" of that thread, if you want, and I'll chime in here if something's off.

Haha. I know. It was tough to make that list and I left out a lot of nuance and details. But I like to keep it consice.

Man, this game is so much fun to play co-op. :D I'm really enjoying the story.

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In my last solo game I used the general rules from Starforged but with the Ironsworn setting. (I'm not that into sci-fi settings)
The newer rules are very similar to Ironsworn's and generic enough to use in any setting (mostly), but they adjusted the balance a bit to be less taxing for the player. On top of that there are 3 experience tracks. Quests, Bonds and Discoveries. Either of those 3 can upgrade your character.

This is something I feel is missing in Ironsworn. There is no reward for finishing a journey, whether it was troublesome or epic. This means that a long journey will simply delay your progress on a vow. If you fail the vow, it was all for nothing. That's why I switched to these rules. Unfortunately it does require some homebrew changes, which makes it annoying to implement.

I'm not saying I want to switch. I'm happy with how things are going :) Just thought you might be interested.