# Ironsworn Solo Game

**URL:** https://forum.menagerie.team/t/ironsworn-solo-game/794
**Category:** Games
**Tags:** ironsworn, worldbuilding
**Created:** [November 23, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://forum.menagerie.team/t/ironsworn-solo-game/794 "2019-11-23T23:58:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 24

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### Author: ![insomn14](https://forum.menagerie.team/user_avatar/forum.menagerie.team/insomn14/32/5949_2.png) [@insomn14](https://forum.menagerie.team/u/insomn14)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://forum.menagerie.team/t/ironsworn-solo-game/794/24 "2020-01-12T01:28:58Z")

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Last time, a damn fool decided to climb up a mountain he fell down once already. Now onto the game.

Heading up the mountain, I think this is a perfect time to make use of the material from Delve again (we’ve been told that the full release is going to be late January/early February, so I’m looking forward to that). I think for this area, the Pass domain is the obvious choice for the mountain, but I’m a little less certain about Theme: Ancient, Fortified, Ravaged and Wild all make a certain amount of sense. Looking through them, I decide that Wild’s features work best and settle on a Wild Pass.

While we did technically explore part of this area before, I don’t think that gives us any benefit here so we’ll ignore that part of the Discover a Site move. Since we already almost died here, calling it a Dangerous site seems good. Now we’re ready to Delve the Depths.

We’re in the foothills of the mountain, nothing too scary yet (hopefully). Althus is going to take this slow and steady, since he’s already familiar with the dangers of this place, so we roll +wits and get a weak hit (5 vs. 6, 1) so we roll on the wits table and get the choice of marking progress or finding an opportunity. While finding an opportunity would be nice, I think we’re just going to take the progress (2/10) and continue up the mountain.

I’m not sure about this next leg of the journey, so we roll for the feature of this area and get a denizen’s lair. I don’t think this is the bandit’s camp, so perhaps we’ve run into the territory of a mountain lion or some great birds. Hopeful we don’t run afoul of them. We roll +wits to continue to Delve the Depths and get a strong hit (9 vs. 4, 6) which means not only do we mark progress (4/10) but we also Find an Opportunity. Since we got this due to a strong hit on Delve the Depths, we can choose what form this takes. I think that this is the territory of some great bird and we’ve come across its nest. Let us not let a good opportunity to Resupply our food stores go to waste.

We roll +wits again to Resupply and get a weak hit (8 vs. 5, 8) so we can take up to 2 supply but supply -1 momentum for each. Since our momentum is 6, I think we can let both go and collect some fresh eggs (momentum now +4, supply now +4). I imagine the penalty to momentum comes from Althus and Saskai having to constantly be on the lookout for the parents while they raid the nest. Now that we’ve got breakfast, let’s scram.

Since we’re moving out of the birds’ territory quickly, it makes sense to roll +edge and get another strong hit (8 vs. 7, 3). We roll for the location features and see that this is a winding mountain path, probably not too much unlike the one that gave out under the group before.

> [@](#):
>
> Cratch let out a loud bellow at the sight of the narrow pass. Althus gave the mammoth a comforting pat on the base of his trunk.
> 
> “Don’t worry friend, we’re not going to have a repeat of last time,” Althus reassured him, but then grabbed onto one of Cratch’s tusks. The Northerner pointed to the part of the path closest to the side of the mountain and tried to direct him there as best he could. “But let’s try to stay as close to the walls as possible.”
> 
> The mammoth gave a nod of agreement.

We still get an Opportunity, however, and I’m not sure what form that should take so I’m going to roll on the table. We get “you locate a secure area,” so I think once we get across the pass, we find a secure outcropping that we can take a moment to rest at and perhaps Make Camp. Since we’re making camp as part of our opportunity, we get +1 to our roll and get +1 momentum on a hit. We roll +supply (aka, Cratch’s health) and get a strong hit (8 vs. 3, 6) so we’ve got some options to make. We get +1 momentum from our hit (now +5). Only Althus is injured (+3 health) so I think recovering is a bit of a waste but we’re going into a dangerous situation, so we’ll take the time to Recuperate (health now +4). Our Spirit, however, is quite low (+2) to I think Relaxing is a good option (Spirit now +3).

> [@](#):
>
> Althus relaxed, sitting next to the fire while resting his back on Cratch’s flank. In his lap was a plate with the remains of the eagles eggs they had taken from further down the mountain. Saskai plopped down next to him and took in the view of the Ironlands from their outcropping.
> 
> “That’s where I’m from,” Saskai said, excitedly pointing out into the distance where the wide plains of the Havens gave way to a network of rivers. “Out in the Hinterlands, by the coast. New Arkesh.” Their eyes glittered when they said the name.
> 
> “What brought you out here?” Althus asked.
> 
> Saskai gave a small laugh and shook their head. “It was a small fishing village–that’s what we were, fishers–and I always heard stories about the great cities of the Havens. My nan always would tell me and my siblings stories of them: Kei’s Hall, Olgar’s Stand, Three Rivers…” As they named the cities, the glint in their eyes started to dim. “But those were just stories. Olgar’s Stand is a bit of a shit hole.”
> 
> “Well, no one else tells you about the slaves,” Althus said, reaching down for a drink from his waterskin. “The city loses its glamour once you find out it was built on the backs of the people Olgar fought.”
> 
> Saskai nodded soberly and Althus felt the need to change the subject. He scanned the horizon and, once he got his bearings, he pointed due North. “That’s where I’m from.” This stirred Saskai a bit, so Althus continued. “Essus. It’s a small village in the Tempest Hills, at the foot of the Veiled Mountains.”
> 
> “And what do you do in Essus?”
> 
> “We were warriors,” Althus said plainly. “Taught you to swing a sword as soon as you were old enough to hold one.”
> 
> “Makes sense,” Saskai said, looking at the Northerner’s massive frame.
> 
> “We would do mercenary work for the Circles of the Tempest Hills. Anyone who could afford to pay the Essians to fight for them could win any war.”
> 
> Saskai smirked at that comment. “Well now I had to know what made you leave.”
> 
> “We were… superstitious,” Althus said, struggling to find the right word. “ We made offerings to the Seers to ask what the gods saw for our family. When we were old enough, we were brought to the Seers to have our fates read to tell us how we’d die, try to hold it off as long as possible.” The Northerner paused there, staring out to the north. To his home.
> 
> “What was your fate?” Saskai asked, finally breaking the silence.
> 
> “I was fated to die at my kins’ hands after I murdered my cousin, the next warlord of the Essian.”
> 
> “That horrible,” Saskai said. “Were you going to?”
> 
> “I was thirteen. Zura was nine. We used to train together in the practice yards. I loved her so much, I don’t know how I was supposed to kill her.”
> 
> “So what happened?”
> 
> Althus sighed. “Zura’s parents wanted me put down before I could harm their eldest. My parents wouldn’t allow it. There was going to be a fight, but I told everyone I would leave to keep the family together.”
> 
> “And they just let you go?” Saskai shouted in disbelief.
> 
> “They equipped me like a warrior and sent me out to let the gods decide my fate.”
> 
> Saskai made a disgusted noise. “That is some self-fulfilling bullshit right there. You didn’t have a reason to kill her before but you would after being exiled.”
> 
> “No,” Althus said, partially to assure Saskai and partially to assure himself, “I’m never returning home. That was my first Iron Vow and plan to keep it to my grave.”

So after that wonderful bit of bonding, I think it’s time to move on. We’ll continue through the mountain passes and roll +wits to Delve the Depths. We get a miss (6 vs. 6, 7) so we Reveal a Danger. We roll on the table and get “you face an environmental or architectural hazard.” Fair enough, we have more Oracles for this. We roll for the environment features and get “remains or carrion.” We roll for environment dangers and get “weather or environmental threat.”

What I am imagining is that Althus and the group spot in the mountains after discovering some fossils of some massive titans which once walked the Ironlands. Something like a massive rib cage jutting out of the ground where even Cratch could walk inside. And while they are marvelling, a storm breaks out and they need to find shelter. And I’m not talking about just some rain, I mean waves of water deluging from the sky while lightning peppers the ground around them.

The first thing I think the group needs to do is find someplace safe to wait out the storm. We’ll Gather Information to search the area and get a weak hit (8 vs. 3, 8) which means we find something but it complicates things. I think the cave is not empty.

Thinking back to what I said earlier, I think this might be a den of a mountain lion. Not finding stats to fit the beast, I think I’ll just use the stats for a wolf (pg. 150) and ignore the “run with the pack” part. Since we did get a weak hit on our Gather Information, I don’t think we’re ambushed but I do think we are on our back foot.

> [@](#):
>
> Saskai and Althus tore through the rain for the cave entrance. Cratch did not follow, for the rain and cold did not bother him greatly. With a quiet stoicism, the mammoth looked about and eventually found an outcropping of stone to take cover under.
> 
> Inside the cave, Althus tried his best to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. “Let’s see if we can find something to start a fire with.”
> 
> Saskai let out a disgruntled grunt and walked further into the cave. They did not get far before their path was blocked by the roar of large cat.
> 
> “Althus,” Saskai said in a panic, “I this cave is taken.”

The first thing Althus is going to try to do is just chase the cat out of the cave, which would be a Compel, but I think the mountain lion is very disinclined to leave: it is raining, this is its den, and it is probably not very afraid of humans. We’ll Ask the Oracle whether it’s even possible for Althus to scare the lion away (small chance) and it looks like it is not. Which means we has fight.

We Enter the Fray with +heart and get a miss (4 vs. 4, 7) but we can make it a weak hit by burning our momentum (momentum now +2). However, we then get the choice of bolstering our position (+2 momentum) or taking advantage. I think we’ll bolster our position (momentum now +4) and try to get the upper hand.

Our mountain lion is on the initiative and because I haven’t used it before, I roll on the Combat Action Oracle and get “reinforce defenses” I think the mountain lion moves into a tight part of the cave where it has the advantage. I think Althus is going to try and provoke it out of its position and Secure an Advantage. We’ll roll +iron (since we’re using aggressive action) and get a strong hit (9 vs. 1, 2). This gives us the Initiative and think Althus’ prodding has caused the lion to make a headless charge at him, so Althus can easily step aside and slice at it.

We’ll immediately make a Strike and roll +iron and add +1 (due to our Securing an Advantage) and get another strong hit (10 vs. 5, 2). We deal 3 harm (6/10) and retain the initiative. We’ll try to End the Fight (since we just made a strong hit) and get a weak hit (6 vs. 6, 5). This means we win but we need to choose one of the negative options. I think with the fiction, Althus is trying to run the mountain lion off and he succeeds, but one its way out the lion barrels through Saskai and they are harmed.

Since the mountain lion is dangerous, this mean Saskai must suffer 2 harm. This brings them down to 2 health and then we roll +heart. We get a weak hit so nothing worse happens (since they are above 0 health). Well, at least we’ve got a cave to hole up in for a couple hours until the rain stops.

Althus will tend to Saskai’s wounds and roll +wits (+2 from our Herbalist asset) and get a weak hit (7 vs. 7, 1), which means we’ll lose 1 supply (down to +3) to give them +2 health (back up to full at +4). We’ll spare the shipbaiting fiction for now (unless I’ve completely misjudged my audience and this is why you’re reading this) and turn to events elsewhere.

Between the delays with camping earlier and now the storm, I believe we’ve satisfied the delay clause to trigger Advance a Threat (it is going to be amusing for Althus to finally get there and find the big bad has already enacted their plan). We roll and get another dramitic and immediate move that causes them to mark menace twice again (98). Brynn is not messing around with their plans for Sommersbrooke. They’ve now got 8/10 menace marked and we roll for what happens: Investigate Burden. Looks like Brynn is trying to find a way to bypass the springs guardian. Perhaps looking into the town’s history or perhaps having her forces dig up some Firstborn relics looking for clues. Well, if we roll 71+ again (or otherwise Advance the Threat twice), we get to see what action she performs to get past the guardian.

Part of me kind of wants to see Althus get there too late and have to make things right. But we’ll play to find out… next time!

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