Ironsworn: Starforged vs Traveller
Compare Ironsworn: Starforged and Traveller side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Ironsworn: Starforged | Traveller | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Play Style | Narrative, Solo-Friendly, Sandbox, Exploration, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Worldbuilding, Character-Driven, Open Source, Random Tables | Sandbox, Simulation, Exploration, Deadly, Character Building, Faction Play |
| 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 2d6 + skill + modifier ≥ 8 to succeed. Character generation is a mini-game. |
| Dice | d6 + 2d10 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | Traveller Fair Use Policy |
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Tomkin Press / Modiphius Entertainment | Mongoose Publishing |
| Year | 2022 | 2022 |
| 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. | Hard sci-fi sandbox campaigns with trading, exploration, and realistic space 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) | Comprehensive sci-fi toolkit, lifepath character creation, detailed trade/travel systems |
| 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 | Lifepath character creation rolls for aging and career mishaps, so a Traveller can leave chargen weakened or pushed onto an unwanted path. Subsystem rules are spread across multiple supplements, so the core book leaves several procedures without full depth. Characteristics are recorded as a hexadecimal Universal Personality Profile string, an unusual notation newcomers must learn before they can read a stat block. |