Your Character

PART TWO: YOUR CHARACTER

You are Ironsworn

Others live out their lives hardly venturing beyond the walls of their village or steading, but you are different. Your sworn vows will lead to a life of danger, heroism, and sacrifice at the edge of the known world.

Envision Your Character

Before you jump into the mechanics of your character, consider her motivations, interests, skills, personality, and weaknesses. It’s fine to start with one or two ideas about your background and goals. You can flesh out your character as you play.

Be Awesome

Your character is highly competent. You’re smart, brave, and driven. You can hold your own in a fight. When you Swear an Iron Vow, you mean it.

You are not without your limitations. You’ll face hardship. You’ll make bad decisions. You will fail. Overcoming those failures, pushing on, is what makes you heroic.

Be Who You Want

You can envision your character however you like—unbound by geography, lineage, sexual orientation, and gender. Your character can be inspired directly by a real-world or historical culture, or you might weave a blend of cultural influences into your concept.

The default setting is human-centric, and these rules do not include specific options to play fantasy races. However, you can adjust to your liking. The mechanics of your character are relatively light and can be themed to support several types of fantasy or historical fiction.

Character Basics

Name

You have a name. Perhaps others will honor it someday in stories and songs.

Give your character a name.

Stats

There are five stats. Each is given a value from 1 to 3. When you make a move and roll dice, you usually add one of your stats to your action die. The move will tell you which stat to add, or give you a choice.

• Edge: Quickness, agility, and prowess in ranged combat.
• Heart: Courage, willpower, empathy, sociability, and loyalty.
• Iron: Physical strength, endurance, aggressiveness, and prowess in close combat.
• Shadow: Sneakiness, deceptiveness, and cunning.
• Wits: Expertise, knowledge, and observation.

To start, arrange these bonuses across your five stats in any order:

3, 2, 2, 1, 1.

Health

Health represents your current physical condition and stamina, ranked from 0 to +5. Health is reduced when you Endure Harm, and increased when you rest or receive care through moves such as Heal or Sojourn.

If you are at 0 health, scoring a miss when you Endure Harm puts you at risk of suffering a debility or dying.

To start, set your health track to +5.

Spirit

Spirit is your current mental state, ranked from 0 to +5. Spirit is reduced when you Endure Stress. It is increased when you find comfort in companionship, success, or relaxed moments through moves such as Make Camp or Forge a Bond.

If you are at 0 spirit, scoring a miss when you Endure Stress puts you at risk of suffering a debility or falling into desolation.

To start, set your spirit track to +5.

Supply

Supply is an abstract representation of your preparedness, including ammo, food, water, and general upkeep. It is ranked from 0 to +5. Instead of keeping track of a detailed inventory, you can consider most of your mundane gear as covered under supply.

Supply is decreased when you make the Undertake a Journey move. You might also reduce supply as a narrative cost when you face hardships as an outcome of other moves. For example, if you make the Face Danger move to ford a wild river, you might lose some gear as a result of a weak hit or miss. Supply is increased when you gather provisions through moves such as Resupply.

The supply track represents the shared assets among your party. You and your allies use the same supply value while you travel together. If any of you make a move to increase supply, or suffer the result of a move that reduces your supply, each of you adjust your supply track accordingly.

When your supply falls to 0, all characters make the Out of Supply move. If you are at 0 supply and suffer additional -supply, you each need to reduce your health, spirit, or momentum tracks by that amount.

To start, set your supply track to +5. You and your allies share the same supply value while you adventure together. When one of you makes a move that raises or lowers the supply track, each of you should make the adjustment on your character sheet.

Momentum

Momentum represents how you are faring in your quests. It is gained and lost through moves. If you have positive momentum, you are building on your successes and ready to make decisive moves. If you have negative momentum, you have suffered setbacks and your quest is in jeopardy.

Use the momentum track on the left side of your character sheet to record your current momentum. Your character sheet also includes boxes to mark your max momentum and momentum reset.

• Your max momentum starts at +10, and is reduced by one for every marked debility.
• Your momentum reset starts at +2. If you have a one debility marked, your reset is +1. If you have more than one debility marked, your reset is 0.

To start, set your current momentum to +2, your max momentum to +10, and your momentum reset to +2.

Vows

When you Swear an Iron Vow, you give it a rank (troublesome, dangerous, formidable, extreme, or epic), and mark it on your character sheet. You then use a vow progress track to mark when you Reach a Milestone.

You should start your first session with two vows: A long term goal (your background vow) and an immediate situation which must be dealt with (your inciting incident).

Bonds and Relationships

As you build relationships and undertake and complete quests in the service of others, you create bonds by making the Forge a Bond move.

Bonds provide narrative texture to your world by fleshing out other characters and communities. They give you places to return to, and people to reconnect with, when your life as Ironsworn has taken its toll. Bonds also provide mechanical benefits when you act within a community or interact with someone with whom you share a bond. For example, the Sojourn move gives you a bonus to your action roll if you have a bond with that community.

The bonds progress track on your character sheet represents the connections you have made. When you successfully Forge a Bond, you mark progress (one tick). When your time as Ironsworn is done, you Write Your Epilogue. When you make that move, you tally the number of filled boxes on your bonds progress track as your progress score. See to learn more about progress tracks and progress moves.

You should start your first session with up to three background bonds. Make a note of the people or communities you share bonds with, and mark up to three ticks on your bond progress track.

Debilities

As you suffer hardships and setbacks in your quests, you may need to mark debilities as a result of moves or narrative events. Moves will tell you which debility to mark, or give you a choice. Debilities represent temporary, long-term, and permanent disadvantages. Some can be easily cleared through an appropriate move. Others will forever become a part of your character.

Debilities should have a narrative impact on how you envision your character’s actions and how others react to you. They also have a mechanical impact by reducing your momentum track.

• Each marked debility reduces your max momentum by 1.
• If you have one marked debility, your momentum reset is +1 instead of +2.
• If you have more than one marked debility, your momentum reset is 0.

Conditions

• Wounded may be marked when you are at 0 health and fail to Endure Harm. You are severely injured and need treatment to recover.
• Shaken may be marked when you are at 0 spirit and fail to Endure Stress. You are despairing or distraught, and need comfort to recover.
• Unprepared is marked when you are at 0 supply and are Out of Supply. You and your allies share the same supply value, and will mark unprepared together.
• Encumbered is marked as appropriate to the circumstances when you are carrying excessive or cumbersome weight.

As with all debilities, conditions impact your max momentum and momentum reset. In addition, if you are wounded, shaken, or unprepared, you cannot increase the associated track.

• If you are wounded, you cannot increase health.
• If you are shaken, you cannot increase spirit.
• If you are unprepared, you cannot increase supply.

If a move gives you an opportunity to raise your health, spirit, or supply while the associated condition is marked, you can’t take that option. You must clear the condition before improving the related status track.

Wounded, shaken, and unprepared can be cleared when you succeed on appropriate moves. For example, scoring a hit on the Heal move can clear the wounded condition. The shaken and unprepared conditions can generally only be cleared as you find fellowship and gather provisions in a community through the Sojourn move. Once you clear a condition, you restore your max momentum and momentum reset, and you can once again increase the associated track through moves.

Unlike other conditions, encumbered is not specifically triggered or resolved by a move. Instead, it should be marked when appropriate to the circumstances. For example, you would mark encumbered if you are carrying an unconscious ally to safety in a perilous situation. Encumbered can also be triggered by the Ironclad asset, which allows you to gain an advantage for heavy armor in exchange for marking the condition. Encumbered is cleared when you lighten your load.

Banes

• Maimed may be marked when you are at 0 health and fail to Endure Harm. You have suffered a wound which causes you ongoing physical challenges, such as the loss of an eye or hand. Or, you bear horrific scars which serve as a constant reminder of your failures.
• Corrupted may be marked when you are at 0 spirit and fail to Endure Stress. Your experiences have left you emotionally scarred. You are at the threshold of losing yourself to darkness.

Banes are permanent. They forever impact your character through the momentum penalty and—more importantly—through the narrative impact of being maimed or corrupted. You should factor this debility into how you perform moves and how you interact with the world. You may have physical or emotional limitations you must cope with. Your outlook may change. Your goals and methods may change. How others behave toward you may change.

If you are maimed, envision the injury and make note of it. Consider how this impacts your approach when facing physical challenges, and weave it into your roleplaying and the narrative of your moves.

When you are corrupted, envision how this impacts your personality and motivations. You might struggle with a new compulsion, quirk, or fear. You might even bear a physical, supernatural sign of the corruption. If so, what is it?

Burdens

• Cursed is marked when you Face Death and return with a soul-bound quest. This burden can only be cleared by completing the quest.
• Tormented is marked when you Face Desolation and undertake a quest to prevent a dire future.

Burdens are a result of life-changing experiences that leave you bound to quests. Clearing a burden can only be accomplished by resolving the quest.

When you are cursed or tormented, you should consider the physical or emotional manifestations of these conditions. You have walked the lands beyond death or suffered visions of your greatest fears. What signs do you bear? How do these experiences affect your relationships?

When you create your character, all debilities should be unmarked.

Assets, Backgrounds, Skills, and Traits

Assets represent your background, skills, and traits. They give you additional options and bonuses when making a move—or sometimes act as their own self-contained moves.

Assets provide both mechanical and narrative benefits. For example, if you are an Herbalist, you gain bonuses to your moves when treating injuries or sicknesses. You can envision your character identifying plants, diagnosing rare illnesses, and summoning up obscure facts about herbal remedies. Even when you aren’t making moves, your role colors the interests and manner of your character. Also, your expertise might offer story possibilities and new quests as you interact with others in need of your services.

Ironsworn assets are formatted as printable cards. Put them alongside your character sheet for easy reference. Each asset card includes three abilities.

Asset Types

There are four types of assets: Companions, paths, combat talents, and rituals. You can mix-and-match assets as you like—whatever fits your vision for your character and their experiences and goals.

Companions

Companions are your NPC helpers. When you acquire a companion, give them a name and envision their appearance and personality. If they don’t have a starting ability, choose one. Upgrading a companion enables additional abilities.

Companions utilize a health track and may suffer harm as a result of one of your moves. When your companion takes damage, make the Companion Endure Harm move to determine the outcome. See to learn more.

Paths

Paths represent your background, interests, training, and skills. They provide mechanical and narrative advantages, but also reflect who you are and how you interact with the world. For example, a Ritualist would likely have a different outlook than a Veteran. Choosing both those paths can reflect an evolution of your character or an interesting background.

Combat Talents

Ironsworn characters are assumed to be skilled fighters. Even without a combat talent, you can wield weapons and perform combat moves. A combat talent reflects a particular area of expertise, and gives you additional options and bonuses.

Combat talent assets typically require you to wield a specific weapon, as noted in the asset text. For example, if you are a Shield-Bearer and don’t have a shield at the ready, you can’t use the asset’s abilities.

Rituals

​Magic in Ironsworn is cast through rituals which help support your actions or act as unique moves. Like all assets, rituals can be selected as you gain experience and can be upgraded over time to make them more flexible or powerful.

All rituals utilize a move as their default marked ability. You must make this move and the associated action roll to trigger the effect. Any secondary abilities you gain by upgrading the asset are dependent on performing the ritual described as the default ability.

Acquiring Assets

You may select three assets when you create your character. Additional assets can be acquired with experience points when you Advance.

Some assets can only be obtained after you have fulfilled narrative or mechanical requirements. The text of the asset will outline the requirement, typically using the phrase “Once you…”

For example:

• Banner-Sworn requires that you have marked a bond with a leader or faction. If you have an appropriate background bond, or have made the Forge a Bond move with a leader or faction, you may add the asset.
• Battle-Scarred requires that you are maimed. If you have marked the debility, you may add the asset.
• Ritualist requires that you Fulfill Your Vow in service to an elder mystic, and Forge a Bond to train with them. Once you’ve done that, you may add the asset.

For assets without a requirement, you should consider the narrative justification when you add it to your character. What have you done to gain these abilities? How have your goals changed to support this new focus? Make your selection meaningful in the context of your story.

Upgrading Assets

When you spend experience to upgrade an asset, you fill in the dot on your asset card to show you’ve acquired the ability. All assets include three abilities. The first will probably be filled in when you purchase the asset. If not, you get to choose one of the three abilities to start.

Upgrading an asset costs 2 experience. Abilities may be selected in any order. You don’t have to activate the second ability to upgrade the third one.

Asset Abilities

Assets provide one or more functions.

• They provide bonuses (adds) for specific moves.
• They allow you to alter the outcome of a move by rerolling dice.
• They provide improved outcomes for successful moves, such as taking +1 momentum on a hit.
• They give you an option to exchange one resource for another, such as trading momentum for inflicting additional harm.
• They allow you to use moves in unusual circumstances, such as using the Scrying ritual to Gather Information remotely.
• They allow you to use a different stat instead of the one normally required by a move.
• They provide unique self-contained moves.
• They add narrative detail and create situations where you can reveal more about your character or your world.

Follow the directions on the asset to apply its abilities to your current situation.

Ability Requirements

Narrative circumstances and the outcome of failed moves may force you into situations where you can’t leverage a key asset, making your adventure more challenging and dramatic.

For example, if you don’t have a animal pelt, you can’t perform the Bind ritual. If you Undertake a Journey without your Horse companion, you won’t gain the bonus. If you are an Archer who’s run out of arrows, you’ll have to try something else. Before you make a move using an asset, take a moment to ensure you are properly positioned and equipped to use those abilities.

Using Companion Abilities

If you have a companion, leveraging their abilities is an option, not a requirement. Through the fiction, you can interact with your companion and have them perform tasks or assist you without using one of the asset abilities. For example, a Horse companion can put you in position to travel at speed or get away from danger.

When you leverage a companion’s ability, you are inherently putting them at risk. If you roll a 1 on your action die when aided by a companion, any negative outcome of the move should involve your companion. Depending on the circumstances, they might suffer harm, be put in danger, become separated from you, or refuse your commands.

Inflicting Harm on Companions

When a companion suffers physical damage, you make the Companion Endure Harm move. When their health is at 0, they are in danger of being killed. Some moves, such as Sojourn and Make Camp, offer options for your companion to recover health.

Slain Companions

If your companion is killed, give yourself 1 experience point for each marked ability. Then, remove the asset. If you acquire the same type of companion through the narrative of your quest and journeys, you can rebuy the asset at the normal cost.

Failing an Asset Move

For the sake of brevity, moves within an asset do not usually describe the result of a miss. If an asset offers a self-contained move, and doesn’t provide a specific consequence for a miss, you can leverage the miss result of the Face Danger move : “On a miss, you fail, or your progress is undermined by a dramatic and costly turn of events. Pay the Price.” In short, make something negative happen as appropriate to the circumstances.

Failed Rituals

Dabbling in the mystic arts is dangerous, and the results can be unpredictable. If the ritual goes wrong, envision what sort of backlash might be possible, or Ask the Oracle.

Failing a ritual might also lead to an entirely mundane result. Perhaps you were ambushed in the midst of the ritual. Or, you waste time (suffer -momentum) or resources (suffer -supply). You might choose to save any overt supernatural backlash for special circumstances, such as when you roll a match.

To start, select three assets. Since this is a key aspect of your character, feel free to choose assets as the first step in character creation. You can let your assets guide your concept, or vice versa.

Experience

When you Fulfill Your Vow, you gain experience. The amount of experience is based on the rank of the quest, and ranges from 1 to 5 points. Mark an ‘X’ on your character sheet for each point you’ve earned.

When you Advance, you spend experience to purchase assets or upgrade an asset. Replace the ‘X’ for each point spent with a filled-in dot.

Per the Advance move, you may:

• Add a new asset by spending 3 experience.
• Upgrade an asset by spending 2 experience.

To start, your experience is unmarked.

Equipment You Carry

Make note of any important equipment or items you start with. These are things that might impact the narrative and the moves you make, or provide texture to your character’s background. They don’t offer mechanical bonuses unless they are represented by an asset, such as a weapon used in a combat talent.

You can assume you are equipped for travel and adventure as represented by your supply track. Don’t worry about managing rations or ammo or other mundane necessities.

To start, make note of any items which have a narrative impact and equipment which relates to your assets. Keep it simple.

Character Creation Summary

Work through the following steps in whatever order you prefer.

• Envision your character.
• Choose a name.
• Set your stats by arranging these bonuses across edge, heart, iron, shadow, and wits in any order: 3, 2, 2, 1, 1.
• Set your health, spirit, and supply to +5.
• Set your momentum to +2, your max momentum to +10, and your momentum reset to +2.
• Mark up to three background bonds.
• Pick three assets.
• Make note of any important equipment or items.
• Set a background vow, and give it a rank of extreme or epic. Then, envision your inciting incident and Swear an Iron Vow.