Ironsworn Solo Game

[insomn14 (Mike)]

Last session, rocks fell and everyone died. Now on with the game.

So Althus, Cratch, and Saskai are tumbling down the side of a mountain. A fairly ignoble start to Saskai’s adventuring career, unfortunately. So firstly, I think everyone is taking 4 harm (I quibbled for a while on this, but the term “grievous harm” seemed the best fit for the situation) and then will have to Endure Harm. First Althus, who rolls +iron and gets a strong hit (10 vs. 8, 6) while we’ll use to endure the pain and take +1 Momentum.

Next Saskai, who rolls Althus’ +heart (since it is higher than their current health) and gets a weak hit (4 vs. 5, 1). We won’t burn our Momentum since there are no additional downsides because Saskai’s health is greater than +0. Finally Cratch, who also rolls Althus’ +heart and gets a complication (7 vs. 8, 8). We’ll see what else shakes out from this situation before we decide what that complication is.

Now time to Ask the Oracle some questions to find out where our heroes wind up. Does an outcropping or ledge stop their fall (Likely)? Yes (88). Are our heroes seperated due to the fall (50/50)? No (15). So all of our heroes together and have landed a few hundred feet further down the mountain on an outcropping. I think this means the complication is that Cratch’s barding was damaged by the fall and we suffer -1 Supply. This may not sound too bad, but it drops us to 0 Supply which means we perform the Out of Supply move (pg. 97). We mark the Unprepared condition and cannot gain Supply while it is marked. That’s pretty bad, especially since now any -Supply we would suffer is now -Momentum, -Health, or -Spirit, depending on the fiction.

Althus’ world finally stopped spinning, only to be replaced by pain. Sharp, aching pain all throughout his left side and back. He went to reach down and check what had happened, but a sudden jolt shot through his arm and he clinched up.

When the pain finally subsided, Althus reached down and tried again. The pain shot through his arm again, but this time he was ready for it and could continue the motion. Wherever his hand touched, the skin felt sore and tender. Finally opening his eyes, Althus pulled his hand up where he could see it and saw it was a mess of blood and dirt.

A thought tried to push its way through to the forefront of his mind, but the pain held it back. The Northerner focused and finally the thought came through clearly.

“Saskai?!” Althus shouted, his voice gruff and ragged. “Cratch?!”

The mammoth was the first to answer with a pitiful trumpting through his snout. Saskai’s only answer was a groan of pain.

Althus slowly lifted himself up to his knees and scooted his way over to Saskai’s crumpled form. Althus reached down and moved their long, dark brown hair away from their face. Saskai flinched at the touch, but Althus continued to look them over. They were badly hurt, possibly more so than Althus, but they could live through it. They could, but they needed to get off this mountain as quickly as possible.

Well, our trio is not just going to wipe the dirt off and get back to the adventure. Since we have ourselves a major complication, I think drastic action is necessary.

“Leave me,” Saskai said. The Northerner pretended not to hear it. “Leave me, Althus. You still might get out of this.”

It was a horrible, pragmatic thought and it had crossed Althus’ mind. He was grievously hurt but was managing to work through the pain. Perhaps his iron shirt had afforded him some sort of protection during the fall or just a lifetime’s worth of experiences that required him to always wear the shirt had toughened him to where he was more used to pain that most, but he could still walk away from this under his own power.

The same couldn’t be said for Saskai.

Althus lowered himself down to the ground, despite his back’s protests, and latched an arm around Saskai’s shoulder to help lift them up to their feet. Saskai grunted in pain at the exertion, but they did their part to get themselves up to their feet.

“I’m not leaving anyone behind,” Althus said. “I never do, do I Cratch?”

The mammoth, favoring his back right leg when he walked, gave an agreeable bellow.

“You’re a fool, Northerner.”

“Probably,” Althus answered as he reached down and grabbed his iron shirt with his free hand. His eyes locked with Saskai and before they could protest, Althus proclaimed, “But no matter what, you are making it off this mountain. I swear on my iron.”

“You’re a fool, Northerner,” Saskai repeated, though this time there was no conviction in the words.

So we’re Swearing a new troublesome Vow: “Ensure Saskai’s survival.” We roll +heart (and get a +1 since we have a bond with them) and get a strong hit (9 vs. 2, 4). We take our +2 Momentum (up to +8) and now it is time to head down this mountain. It seems unlikely that we would end up on sometime like a washed out or disused mountain path, but we’ll Ask the Oracle anyway: no. So it looks like we’re just going to have to take this slowly and steadily, finding or making paths as we go.

We’ll Face Danger (the mountain) with +wits (since observation and expertise seems most important) and get a weak hit (8 vs. 5, 10). I think this whole experience is weighing heavily with Althus, and so he’ll Endure Stress. We get a weak hit (8 vs. 9, 1) and so all we suffer is the -1 Spirit. Very fortuitous.

Having made our way to the bottom of the mountain, we Mark Progress (3/10) on our Vow to Saskai and now need to find someplace to tend to our injuries. I think we need to Secure an Advantage to find a lake, river, or even just stream or small spring. We roll +wits (again, observation) and get a weak hit (5 vs. 5, 1) but that should be able to get us something useful: a small stream of water coming down from the mountain.

“We’re here,” Althus announced.

Althus almost collapsed when they finally reached the creek. Helping keep Saskai on their feet had taken its toll on the Northerner, but his task wasn’t over yet.

“Let’s take a look at your wounds,” the Northerner said, but Saskai did not respond. They were looking away from the Northerner, their face flush.

“Are you embarrassed?” Althus said, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

“No,” Saskai said, and their face reddened.

“I assure you, I only want to tend to your injuries,” Althus said, trying his best of sound sincere, but then quickly added, “now let’s get those clothes off.”

Saskai gave the Northerner a shove, only to double over as effort had aggravated their injuries.

Having made it to the creek, we Mark Progress again (6/10). Now it’s time to deal with everyone’s wounds. Since we have no Supply, our Herbalist asset will not help us, so we are going to roll +wits to Heal Saskai and get a miss (6 vs. 10, 7). Luckily, we have Momentum to burn (+8) and can turn that into a weak hit. We reset our Momentum to +1 (since we have the Unprepared condition, our Reset score has lowered) and then suffer another -1 Momentum (from the weak hit to heal) to take us down to +0 Momentum. I have a feeling it is only going to get lower from here.

However, I think getting Saskai’s health back up to +2 is enough for us to mark our last bit of progress on our Vow to them (9/10) and Fulfill Our Vow. We roll the Challenge Dice and get a strong hit (9 vs. 2, 8) which means our quest is complete and we mark 1 experience. Huzzah. Now to deal with Althus and Cratch’s injuries.

First Althus. We roll +iron (since these are our own injuries) and get a miss (5 vs. 6, 8). While there are some obvious outcomes here, I think we’ll roll on the Pay the Price Oracle for some inspiration. It is stressful, so I’m going to consult the book on Stress (pg. 20) and I would say this is a highly distressing event, so we’ll lose -2 Spirit (down to +2) and then Endure Stress. We get a weak hit and so we press on.

Finally Cratch. We roll +wits and get another weak hit (6 vs. 10, 4). Cratch gets +2 health (up to +3) but we suffer another -1 Momentum (down to -1). Things are starting to look bleak.

Night had fallen and the roar of the fire fought to drown out of the sound of the water running down the creek. Both Saskai and Cratch sat in the creek, relaxing while the water cleaned the dirt and blood from them, while Althus sat stoking the fire, the flames causing the links of his iron shirt to sparkle.

“You should join us,” Saskai called from the water, but the Northerner ignored the request.

He had led them all on a dangerous path and it had nearly gotten them all killed. It weighed heavily on his mind and relaxing was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

Althus wasn’t certain when Saskai had gotten out of the water, the distraction of his own thoughts great enough to block out the world around him.

“Come on,” Saskai pleaded with the Northerner as they tugged at their iron shirt, “let’s get that off and clean your wounds off.”

“I’m fine,” Althus responded, obviously not fine. “Finish up and then we can see if we still have some blanket to dry you off with.”

Saskai kneel down, putting themselves directly into the Northerner’s view. Their body was covered in dark bruises, gashes, and cuts and the sight only made Althus more mad at himself.

“There was nothing you could have done about this,” Saskai said, awkwardly reaching up for Althus’s shoulders while the lingering pain made their movements stuttering. “It was a bad road and we knew it, but it was the only way to get to Sommersbrooke. We’re alive and that’s what’s important.”

“I…” Althus started to say, but the word hung in his mouth, “I could have… could have…”

“Could have what? Let Cratch fall? Said no to the Baron? We both know you couldn’t have done either of those.”

Althus sat silently and stared at nothing, at a loss for a reply, an answer, or anything. He agreed with what Saskai had said but couldn’t help but blame himself for all of it. Suddenly Althus’ mind stopped churning on those thoughts when he noticed Saskai was hugging him.

“I know this is bad,” Saskai said softly, “and you’re blaming yourself, but you can’t let this hold you down. You got us out of it alive and that’s what matters. Now come on and get in the damn creek. You smell like blood and ass.”

So things are bad. While Althus is unaware of it, there is a warlock turning the town of Sommersbrooke against him and Wyvern’s Rest. Also, both he and his companions are hurting really bad and are somewhere lost in the wilderness. I think the best we can do right now is Make Camp and see if we can return to our journey.

We roll +supply (using Cratch’s health per our asset, since I imagine sleeping cuddling up next to a big fluffy elephant isn’t that bad) and get a weak hit (7 vs. 7, 4). I think the best option is to recuperate so all three can recover +1 health (Althus up to +2, Cratch up to +4, and Saskai up to +3).

Once everyone is rested up, it’s time to return to the Journey. Since we’re off the path, I think we need to Gather Information to try and find our way back. We roll +wits (lots of +wits rolls today) and get a strong hit (9 vs. 2, 5). We get back onto the path and take +2 Momentum (up to +1). We roll +wits to continue our Journey and get a weak hit (8 vs. 9, 1). We’ll suffer -1 health (since we’re Unprepared and cannot suffer anymore -Supply) but luckily we do not have to roll to Endure Harm since this is just general wasting from lack of food and rest and not direct physical harm (small comfort). We do at least mark progress on our Journey (6/10) and I think we’re going to take our chances and try to Reach our Destination.

We roll the Challenge Dice and get a miss (6 vs. 10, 9). I think we’ve gone astray, but hopefully we may have reached another town other than Sommersbrooke. We Ask the Oracle and learn that we’ve arrived a different city than the one we intended. We roll on the Location Oracles and learn this is Blackfalls, a lowland settlement in a barren area with a diverse population. Perhaps they are those who fled the various Barons and created their own town in the shadow of a waterfall. Hopefully we can restock and resupply here.

But we’ll leave that for next time.