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<blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 8247131" data-attributes="member: 85870">All of this is tremendously applicable to Ironsworn. The main driver of play is supposed to be the characters' &quot;Iron Vows&quot;---the solemnly sworn, honor-bound promises made to themselves and others within the game world. And the mechanics dramatically reinforce how important these are to the characters. Abandoning an Iron Vow carries significant narrative and mechanical impact, all of it negative. The gaining of XP and advancement is solely tied to players successfully completing Iron Vows. There is no justification, in-or-out of fiction, for players not to agree to swear Iron Vows and then do everything possible to pursue their fulfillment.&nbsp; And it's positively revelatory on how it shapes the dynamic of play for our group. Like, just last session, one of my players about 2/3 of the way through the session approached the group and said, &quot;I'm not finding ways to connect my character's Iron Vows to what the group is pursuing. Can we talk about how we can build in some of these things into our pursuits?&quot;I was floored by it. This was a player taking an active role---wholly within the play principles established---of building on their character motivations. And everyone of course jumped happily at the opportunity to collaborate and build on this player's primary vow (&quot;I will discover and eradicate the sources of darkness that have infiltrated this land&quot;).The combination of Ironsworn's vows + progress tracker + &quot;complete a vow&quot; mechanical move are the kind of connected advancement mechanics that I would have never imagined possible in other contexts.Savage Worlds never, not once, naturally pushed play in this direction, because the reward/advancement feedback loop in Savage Worlds is little more than, &quot;Now you get to keep playing the game with a more powerful character.&quot;We're heading into our 6th session tomorrow, and I don't recall being this excited to GM a game in years.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="innerdude, post: 8247131, member: 85870"] All of this is tremendously applicable to Ironsworn. The main driver of play is supposed to be the characters' "Iron Vows"---the solemnly sworn, honor-bound promises made to themselves and others within the game world. And the mechanics dramatically reinforce how important these are to the characters. Abandoning an Iron Vow carries significant narrative and mechanical impact, all of it negative. The gaining of XP and advancement is solely tied to players successfully completing Iron Vows. There is no justification, in-or-out of fiction, for players not to agree to swear Iron Vows and then do everything possible to pursue their fulfillment. And it's positively revelatory on how it shapes the dynamic of play for our group. Like, just last session, one of my players about 2/3 of the way through the session approached the group and said, "I'm not finding ways to connect my character's Iron Vows to what the group is pursuing. Can we talk about how we can build in some of these things into our pursuits?" I was floored by it. This was a player taking an active role---wholly within the play principles established---of building on their character motivations. And everyone of course jumped happily at the opportunity to collaborate and build on this player's primary vow ("I will discover and eradicate the sources of darkness that have infiltrated this land"). The combination of Ironsworn's vows + progress tracker + "complete a vow" mechanical move are the kind of connected advancement mechanics that I would have never imagined possible in other contexts. Savage Worlds never, not once, naturally pushed play in this direction, because the reward/advancement feedback loop in Savage Worlds is little more than, "Now you get to keep playing the game with a more powerful character." We're heading into our 6th session tomorrow, and I don't recall being this excited to GM a game in years. [/QUOTE]

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