| Designers | Shawn Tomkin |
|---|---|
| Illustrators | Joshua Meehan |
| Publishers | Tomkin Press, Modiphius Entertainment |
| Publication | 2018 |
| Genres | Universal, Fantasy, Science fiction |
| Systems | Ironsworn, Powered by the Apocalypse |
Ironsworn is an indie role-playing game written and self-published by Shawn Tomkin. [1] Its Ironlands setting is low fantasy, set in a rugged frontier. Rob Wieland for Forbes named Ironsworn one of his favorite RPG products of 2022 and one of the best fantasy tabletop role-playing games for solo play. [2]
Player characters are built by allocating a specific number of points to the five different stats. These are edge, heart, iron, shadow, and wits.
Apart from the starting stats, there are also trackers for health, spirit, and supply.
Vows are the main mechanic by which a player can track progress and accomplish goals.
There are three ways to play Ironsworn.
Tomkin took inspiration from the Powered by the Apocalypse system, among other systems. The player narrates the story and then makes Moves when it makes narrative sense. If for instance, the player is about to enter combat, they can make the Enter the Fray move. Dice are rolled to determine if the move is a success or a failure. The player accumulates Momentum through succeeding at rolls or through narrative. Momentum can be used to improve the result of a die roll. Experience can be gained by completing vows and then spent upgrading existing assets or gaining new ones.[ citation needed ]
There are four official supplements that have been published by Shawn Tomkin.
In season 2 of Me,Myself and die, a YouTube channel and series focusing on solo tabletop role-playing games, Canadian voice actor Trevor Devall is playing Ironsworn [6] .
The game received the 2019 ENNIE Gold Winner Award for Best Free Game/Product. [7]
Aside from the rulebooks published by Tomkin Press, many other tabletop role-playing games appeared since Ironsworn's publishing that use rule systems inspired directly by Ironsworn. Examples include Iron Valley, a solo role-playing game intending to recreate the atmosphere of the video game Stardew Valley , [8] or Sworn by Ghostlight, a gothic mystery tabletop RPG. [9]