Ironsworn: Starforged vs The Expanse Roleplaying Game
Compare Ironsworn: Starforged and The Expanse Roleplaying Game side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Ironsworn: Starforged | The Expanse Roleplaying Game | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Tags | Narrative, Solo-Friendly, Sandbox, Exploration, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Worldbuilding, Character-Driven, CC-Licensed Rules, Random Tables | Licensed IP, Space Opera, Ship-Based, Crunchy, Social Combat, Investigation, Faction Play, Social Intrigue, Strong GM Support, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 1d6 (action die) + stat vs. two d10 challenge dice. Beat both = strong hit, beat one = weak hit, beat neither = miss. Momentum meter (-6 to +10) can be burned to replace your action score. Moves resolve fiction; progress tracks measure quests, expeditions, and combat. Oracle tables generate story prompts for solo and co-op play. | Roll three six-sided dice, two matched and one differently colored Drama Die, and add an ability score plus a focus bonus of +2 if applicable. The total must equal or beat a target number set by the GM or an opponent's result. Rolling doubles generates stunt points spent on combat, exploration, or social effects. The Drama Die's value sets the degree of success. |
| Dice | d6 + 2d10 | 3d6 |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Tomkin Press / Modiphius Entertainment | Green Ronin Publishing |
| Year | 2022 | 2019 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Solo or small-group sci-fi campaigns driven by sworn vows, with rich oracle tables, starship exploration, and collaborative worldbuilding: no GM required. | Groups who want a character-focused science fiction campaign of crew jobs, faction pressure, and danger across the Solar System. It suits tables that want structured action, investigation, and social encounters alongside ship travel. |
| Highlights | Strong solo RPG design, 'Choose Your Truths' worldbuilding tailors the setting, large oracle chapter for emergent story, momentum system creates dramatic tension, three flexible play modes (solo/co-op/guided) | Backgrounds, professions, talents, and focuses build characters with mechanical ties to their lives before the campaign begins. Action, exploration, and social encounters each use dedicated stunts, giving different kinds of scenes procedures beyond a single skill roll. The Churn turns accumulated complications into escalating story events, giving the Game Master a structured way to introduce setbacks. |
| Considerations | Dense 400-page rulebook despite narrative focus, large move count to internalize, setting is human-centric by default, oracle-driven play can produce disjointed narratives without careful interpretation | Combat stunts are drawn from six separate category tables covering roughly sixty options, requiring both players and the GM to check charts mid-fight to keep pace. Ground and air vehicles receive no example statistics, leaving their combat rules almost entirely improvised. The forty-page setting guide summarizes the solar system's factions and history at a survey level, so groups wanting deeper political detail need outside reading of the novels. |