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Guest Post: Alex's Ironsworn Journal - Chapter 2 - Close Call in Newstone

Continuing guest host Alex's Ironsworn campaign journal. Chapter 2: Close Call in Newstone  The weather was calm, the journey easy alongside the River Kenning. Varro had wondered if he should wait for the next trade run so he could have ridden on the barge with Mai, but now he was glad he had chosen to walk. The sun was well past its apex and a bracing chill had entered the air when he arrived in Newstone. Nevertheless, his plan was to see if there were any more supplies for purchase and get moving again quickly, then camp by the road tonight. He didn't want to spend any more time among the Newstone folk than he had to. Some knew him by sight, and who knew how they felt about the peace, when his own village was so divided.  What's going on in Newstone? Trouble: a dangerous discovery. What kind? Lose enemy -- yes, they have lost their traditional enemy as they have made peace. Someone is upset, some rough and tumble warrior type who feels not raiding their neighbours is an a...
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Guest Post: Alex's Ironsworn Journal - Chapter 1 - Kuno’s Parting Gifts

Continuing guest host Alex's Ironsworn campaign journal. Chapter 1 - Kuno’s Parting Gifts Varro stepped out of the village storehouse with a packet of lampsoot ink and a bundle of supplies for his journey.  His uncle was dead, the thick leather-bound tome of lore still unfinished, the task of filling it now Varro's. His ancestors had believed this land and all its strange things could be known, understood, not just endured, and they swore on iron that they would bring it about. Or so Uncle Kuno told him. And now that vow had fallen on him. He had renewed it as he knelt over his uncle's grave, his hand on the iron clasp of the tome itself. Then he had stayed up all night poring over its contents, though he knew them well, wondering where to start. How to start. The book spoke of mystics and sages who lived in the Hinterlands, of elves in the Deep Wilds and of the Broken Ones who had first claimed these lands and been corrupted beyond recognition. He had fallen asleep dreamin...
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Guest Post: Alex's Ironsworn Journal - Preamble/Session Zero

I've got something a bit different for you today as my brother Alex has shared his Ironsworn campaign journal with me. He thought other solo roleplayers might like to read it and suggested I post it on here since there's a ready-made audience for it on this blog. Those of you who watched my Scarlet Heroes one on one actual play video will remember Alex as the player in that session. I've queued up a whole series of posts that will publish at 5pm UK time each day for the next few days, so remember to check back in. Preamble After playing Ironsworn briefly several years ago, I had been meaning to come back and start a proper campaign for a while. Getting a new nifty laptop was the catalyst for finally doing it, because it meant I could play using the Iron Journal website, which handles the whole game in a nice neat package. I have found that I like the idea of playing a solo RPG with only analogue tools, but in practice I find it a bit cumbersome and overwhelming.  So what f...
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How to Solo Play Traveller & Cepheus: Part 2 - Character Creation

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Part 2 of my guide to solo playing Traveller/Cepheus Engine is out now. This time we're looking into the various methods of character creation. Watch it now on the YouTube channel.
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Salvage & Sorcery: A Fast & Fun Solo RPG (YouTube Video)

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Here's a recent video I made about the Blackoath Entertainment game Salvage & Sorcery: Scraphounds of Cygnus. In a new format for this kind of video I first give an overview of the rules, then show you an animated mission report from my campaign, and finally do some gameplay on camera.
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My Solo Ironsworn Campaign Went Completely Off Script (Youtube Video)

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I recently made this YouTube video where I talk about the fun that results from weird and unexpected plot twists that oracles throw at you in solo RPGs. I'm also inviting everyone to leave their own solo RPG stories in the comments under the video so I can read them out in a future video.
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Scarlet Heroes: Night's Dark Terror Part 2

Continuing my solo playthrough of the classic D&D adventure Night's Dark Terror, using the Scarlet Heroes rules. At this point I've decided to switch from the Scarlet Heroes XP rules to Old School Essentials. I don't know, I've just always preferred the crunchiness of those rules and how long it takes to level up. Beremud is a level 1 fighter (0 XP) and a level 3 cleric (3000 XP) - a kind of unofficial paladin. The OSE rulebook says multiclass characters track their progress towards levelling up in each class separately, so all XP awarded gets split between all their classes evenly. This means Beremud needs 2000 XP to become a level 2 fighter, plus 6000 XP to become a level 4 cleric. He currently has 11 out of 14 Scarlet Heroes XP to reach level 5 character level. We need to convert his 11 SH XP to OSE XP and divide it between his two classes. 8000 ÷ 14 = 571 (rounded to whole number) 11 x 571 = 6281 6281 ÷ 4 (his current character level) = 1570 1 (fighter lev...
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