BookTenTiger
He / Him
I got a positive test for Covid yesterday, and I'm isolating away from my wife and baby for a while. I have very mild symptoms, but it's still a real bummer. I'm not feeling sick enough to just lie around watching TV or taking naps, but I'm also staying indoors so I don't put anyone else at risk.
So today I ran an Ironsworn game for myself.
For those who don't know, Ironsworn is a PbtA-inspired game themed around Vikings in a land of magic and monsters. It is GM-optional, and has "Oracle Tables" you can roll on as a kind of creative partner or decision-maker, so that you can run the game without a GM. In fact, it's a great game to run solo!
This is my third time running an Ironsworn game for myself. There are many ways to do it, but I like to keep an ongoing log of the game, writing it out like a story draft. Today I wound up writing 24 pages!
Ironsworn is a "play to find out" kind of game, so though you start with a premise, you really don't know where it's going to go. Getting a Miss or a Weak Hit can introduce totally new storylines or twists. Companions can reveal themselves to be enemies, beasts and monsters can suddenly appear, or your character might lose their prize weapon and have to go on a journey to find a new one. Even when you complete a quest, the result might be the revelation of a new truth and a new adventure.
It's a great game. (Oh, and it's free! Though I totally plan on buying the hardcover once we've finished moving.)
Today I created a new character, a young skald named Deerborn. He had grown up in an island fortress in a lake surrounded by rocky, ore-laden hills ruled by giants. As war ramped up between his clan-chief and a local giant named Montatam, he set out to end the conflict peacefully. He wound up stealing a magic sword from his clan chief, curing his master of blindness through the magic blade, traveling up a tempestuous river, and negotiating both with the giant and his own clan-chief through song and poetry. Now his next quest is to seek the flowers grown on the grave of a giant chieftess, which have magic healing properties.
It was the perfect Covid isolation activity!
So today I ran an Ironsworn game for myself.
For those who don't know, Ironsworn is a PbtA-inspired game themed around Vikings in a land of magic and monsters. It is GM-optional, and has "Oracle Tables" you can roll on as a kind of creative partner or decision-maker, so that you can run the game without a GM. In fact, it's a great game to run solo!
This is my third time running an Ironsworn game for myself. There are many ways to do it, but I like to keep an ongoing log of the game, writing it out like a story draft. Today I wound up writing 24 pages!
Ironsworn is a "play to find out" kind of game, so though you start with a premise, you really don't know where it's going to go. Getting a Miss or a Weak Hit can introduce totally new storylines or twists. Companions can reveal themselves to be enemies, beasts and monsters can suddenly appear, or your character might lose their prize weapon and have to go on a journey to find a new one. Even when you complete a quest, the result might be the revelation of a new truth and a new adventure.
It's a great game. (Oh, and it's free! Though I totally plan on buying the hardcover once we've finished moving.)
Today I created a new character, a young skald named Deerborn. He had grown up in an island fortress in a lake surrounded by rocky, ore-laden hills ruled by giants. As war ramped up between his clan-chief and a local giant named Montatam, he set out to end the conflict peacefully. He wound up stealing a magic sword from his clan chief, curing his master of blindness through the magic blade, traveling up a tempestuous river, and negotiating both with the giant and his own clan-chief through song and poetry. Now his next quest is to seek the flowers grown on the grave of a giant chieftess, which have magic healing properties.
It was the perfect Covid isolation activity!
