8 Comments
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Mario's avatar

Good post! I still think it's the best Solo RPG!

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Croaker's avatar

Thanks for reading! Yeah it's such a well done Solo RPG. Shawn put a ton of effort into it and has been refining it. Definitely the standard I judge my own Solo RPGs against.

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Jeremy's avatar

I hadn’t picked up on the what do you do vs what happens next distinction outside of where it’s formalized in combat. I guess it’s because I think of it as “this bad thing happens, and now what do you do next”. But phrasing it with two different questions is a good reminder of whether you’re acting or reacting.

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Croaker's avatar

Thanks for reading! It's a subtle difference that took me a while to internalise also. But when I did it really changed how I approached things in Ironsworn games.

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Lloyd Williams's avatar

Outstanding explanation, for a great game system.

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BackyardCritter's avatar

Massively helpful! Definitely makes me think to be more mindful about where I am in the flow when I'm playing. Great post!

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Croaker's avatar

Thanks! Glad it was helpful. I'd also say don't over think it. The most important part is to have fun and enjoy the game.

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Gregory Adams Fiction's avatar

This is great stuff! I'm pretty new to solo ttrpgs and it's very inspiring to see actual play journals and also how folks manage thier system of choice. I've not explored Ironsword yet so I'll add that to the list.

So far I've played The Wretched, Entity, and Captain's Log (which is a lot of fun but a lot of work because there's so much Star Trek lore to try get right). Right now I'm really enjoying one called Pirates of the Low Waters which uses the Daydreamers system. I'll be honest I'm more or less use these as writing collaboration I don't even want to say prompts because it's more than a prompt. It's great fun to have the dice give you something and then have to accommodate that. They also mix and match things the Pirates game is kind of a apocalyptic although still high fantasy setting so I'm leaning heavily on Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique stories/setting.

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