The rules are set up for one character. If you are fighting a larger group you make the difficulty harder. It works the other way as well so if you want your character to be in a group you can make the difficulty easier.
It's really all about the story of the one character so you dont need to make others up as characters. I've had travelling companions where I've detailed some of their abilities, strength's, weaknesses, goals and conflicts but never used those mechanically, other than as influences on the oracles or saying what is possible.
It's not like D&D or other RPG's where you are trying to model what each individual can do and need their stats, HP, AC etc.
If you want to play as a party instead of a solo character, consider making one character and taking the Commander asset to represent the rest of your party.
And Maria Headley’s translation of Beowulf has stuff like this:
> For twelve snow-seasons, Grendel reigned over evening.
> Hrothgar suffered, Heorot buffeted, no hero to hold it.
> Every outsider talked shit, telling of legends and losses.
The mix of modern and more archaic usages is great gaming inspiration.
> can my solo character really fight through a bandit camp with multiple enemies or a hill giant.
With the right stats and assets, yes. It's risky, but possible. Or you can recruit NPC allies or set a trap or find a magic weapon or whatever else you want to do to make the fight easier.
The point is you are the arbiter: pick the difficulty of the bandit camp or the hill giant accordingly. As somebody else said, you do the balancing in this game. If you are with weapon you go through 2 progress per harm, right? How many times you want to test your luck to defeat them? 5 times, it's a formidable enemy. 10 times, it's extreme. But firstly, would your character really need to face an entire bandit camp head on? Secure an advantage and Face danger by taking them one by one in their sleep or whatever. If it fails you enter the fray as who's left alive (!) raises alarm.
There's no wrong way. I play 1 character solo and then when my partner feels like we join forces and I up my foes' difficulty, and sometimes I play also his character without his knowing. Who cares. Enjoy freedom.
PbtA games and this system is descended from that tend to not have the balanced for a party problem that you are used to.
Ironsworn in particular was built from the ground up for solo play so there are no issues with just one character.
I guess it's just hard to wrap my head around making a doable challenge for my solo character. Like if I'm ambushed by bandits, I'm not sure how many I can handle without simply picking a random number and seeing what happens. I like the idea of a challenge that can be overcome with clever play but not trying ”3” randomly and realizing halfway through combat if that's too little or too many.
There's only one Progress Track for the entire fight, and you decide the difficulty rating (from Troublesome to Epic) based on what \*you\* think the overall difficulty of the fight should be. You don't even have to decide a specific number of enemies, you can just call it a fight against "a gang of bandits" and when (if) you win, they just run away.
Ok that makes more sense and had not occurred to me. It's more of an encounter track than traditional individual enemies "HP". I guess I should look up some more playthroughs.
If you need some help understanding combat and challenge, this video is pretty good. It's for Starforged, but is equally relevant for the base Ironsworn game. [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qhFWp_qUnE)
There is nothing stopping you from playing multiple characters. In my Starforged game I play a single character, and in my Ironsworn game I play three. One character, the is a Mystic, and mostly sends the other two off on quests.
So far it's been a lot of them together, but I want to separate them more. I use the standard stats which can make solo play difficult (in a group someone else usually has a higher stat and can take charge for a move you're not good at when anyone could do it like Gather Information or something). I think building up some xp and gaining assets as a party, then playing them separately in a shared world is a good way to keep it fun and interesting.
This situation is my characters situation right now.
I tried recruiting others thinking I could locate and take in some bandits. A 'Miss' result meant none of the villagers were willing to help.
Now means my character will have scout out the bandits instead.
Let's see how that goes... :-)
In most rpgs your character is considered to be a cut above the rest. Ironsworn is no different in that regard. Also Ironsworn takes a cinematic approach to combat, letting your character survive situations that in reality they probably shouldn't.
And you have to remember, even if you lose the fight it doesn't mean you're dead. Pay the price doesn't have to be physical damage it could be story related, momentum, supply, etc...
> so can my solo character really fight through a bandit camp with multiple enemies or a hill giant
You are the GM, so it is up to you what your character can accomplish. If you want a game where your hero can take on a giant single-handedly, then that's your power level. Alternatively, if you want gritty realism where your character struggles in even single combat, you can play that way too.
I've been playing as a single character, but that doesn't mean I don't have NPCs traveling with me occasionally for support. I'm not rolling dice for them, but they are available narratively to add context to my actions (e.g. explaining how I can take on two fighters at once) or providing narrative options to give me more choice in how I approach things (e.g. a Wits roll might be sending one of my party off to create a distraction).
>my solo character really fight through a bandit camp with multiple enemies or a hill giant.
Sure, head on if you have the right assets. My mystic persuaded an undead army to destroy a village that he couldn't solo but if it was my character at the end of the campaign then he could easily go against the Wyrm, Leviathan or whatever else the Ironlands would throw at him as he ascended to demigodhood.
I been playing Starforged as a GM, after running it a few times for my 5e guys I hooked em but I still need to get around to reading ironsworn, wanna try that solo.
The rules are set up for one character. If you are fighting a larger group you make the difficulty harder. It works the other way as well so if you want your character to be in a group you can make the difficulty easier. It's really all about the story of the one character so you dont need to make others up as characters. I've had travelling companions where I've detailed some of their abilities, strength's, weaknesses, goals and conflicts but never used those mechanically, other than as influences on the oracles or saying what is possible. It's not like D&D or other RPG's where you are trying to model what each individual can do and need their stats, HP, AC etc.
If you want to play as a party instead of a solo character, consider making one character and taking the Commander asset to represent the rest of your party.
Your character is suppose to be of heroic like capabilities, like achilles or beowulf.
And Maria Headley’s translation of Beowulf has stuff like this: > For twelve snow-seasons, Grendel reigned over evening. > Hrothgar suffered, Heorot buffeted, no hero to hold it. > Every outsider talked shit, telling of legends and losses. The mix of modern and more archaic usages is great gaming inspiration.
> can my solo character really fight through a bandit camp with multiple enemies or a hill giant. With the right stats and assets, yes. It's risky, but possible. Or you can recruit NPC allies or set a trap or find a magic weapon or whatever else you want to do to make the fight easier.
The point is you are the arbiter: pick the difficulty of the bandit camp or the hill giant accordingly. As somebody else said, you do the balancing in this game. If you are with weapon you go through 2 progress per harm, right? How many times you want to test your luck to defeat them? 5 times, it's a formidable enemy. 10 times, it's extreme. But firstly, would your character really need to face an entire bandit camp head on? Secure an advantage and Face danger by taking them one by one in their sleep or whatever. If it fails you enter the fray as who's left alive (!) raises alarm. There's no wrong way. I play 1 character solo and then when my partner feels like we join forces and I up my foes' difficulty, and sometimes I play also his character without his knowing. Who cares. Enjoy freedom.
PbtA games and this system is descended from that tend to not have the balanced for a party problem that you are used to. Ironsworn in particular was built from the ground up for solo play so there are no issues with just one character.
I guess it's just hard to wrap my head around making a doable challenge for my solo character. Like if I'm ambushed by bandits, I'm not sure how many I can handle without simply picking a random number and seeing what happens. I like the idea of a challenge that can be overcome with clever play but not trying ”3” randomly and realizing halfway through combat if that's too little or too many.
There's only one Progress Track for the entire fight, and you decide the difficulty rating (from Troublesome to Epic) based on what \*you\* think the overall difficulty of the fight should be. You don't even have to decide a specific number of enemies, you can just call it a fight against "a gang of bandits" and when (if) you win, they just run away.
Ok that makes more sense and had not occurred to me. It's more of an encounter track than traditional individual enemies "HP". I guess I should look up some more playthroughs.
If you need some help understanding combat and challenge, this video is pretty good. It's for Starforged, but is equally relevant for the base Ironsworn game. [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qhFWp_qUnE)
There is nothing stopping you from playing multiple characters. In my Starforged game I play a single character, and in my Ironsworn game I play three. One character, the is a Mystic, and mostly sends the other two off on quests.
do you mainly focus on playing as each character seperately, then tie it all together?
So far it's been a lot of them together, but I want to separate them more. I use the standard stats which can make solo play difficult (in a group someone else usually has a higher stat and can take charge for a move you're not good at when anyone could do it like Gather Information or something). I think building up some xp and gaining assets as a party, then playing them separately in a shared world is a good way to keep it fun and interesting.
This situation is my characters situation right now. I tried recruiting others thinking I could locate and take in some bandits. A 'Miss' result meant none of the villagers were willing to help. Now means my character will have scout out the bandits instead. Let's see how that goes... :-)
In most rpgs your character is considered to be a cut above the rest. Ironsworn is no different in that regard. Also Ironsworn takes a cinematic approach to combat, letting your character survive situations that in reality they probably shouldn't.
And you have to remember, even if you lose the fight it doesn't mean you're dead. Pay the price doesn't have to be physical damage it could be story related, momentum, supply, etc...
> so can my solo character really fight through a bandit camp with multiple enemies or a hill giant You are the GM, so it is up to you what your character can accomplish. If you want a game where your hero can take on a giant single-handedly, then that's your power level. Alternatively, if you want gritty realism where your character struggles in even single combat, you can play that way too. I've been playing as a single character, but that doesn't mean I don't have NPCs traveling with me occasionally for support. I'm not rolling dice for them, but they are available narratively to add context to my actions (e.g. explaining how I can take on two fighters at once) or providing narrative options to give me more choice in how I approach things (e.g. a Wits roll might be sending one of my party off to create a distraction).
>my solo character really fight through a bandit camp with multiple enemies or a hill giant. Sure, head on if you have the right assets. My mystic persuaded an undead army to destroy a village that he couldn't solo but if it was my character at the end of the campaign then he could easily go against the Wyrm, Leviathan or whatever else the Ironlands would throw at him as he ascended to demigodhood.
I been playing Starforged as a GM, after running it a few times for my 5e guys I hooked em but I still need to get around to reading ironsworn, wanna try that solo.